Viva Spice

So this week the media has been dominated by various stories – Jimmy Carr and that tax loophole, the Barclays libor rate scandal, Prince Charles’ paternal generosity etc. Nevertheless, there is one story that has had me gripped, updating my twitter feed, and glued to news...

The revelation of Spice Girls: The Musical.

I was part of the Spice crazy generation - I still am. Back in the 1990s there was a Spice for every girl in the world- my personal favourite always being Sporty.  They dominated our newspapers and TVs and, 15 years later, they're once again causing quite the sensation.

With the new musical set to take centre stage in December, the Spice women have received a fair bit of flack lately. The media have attacked them with a relish usually reserved for Nigel Farange/ Silvio Berlusconi– criticising the superficial friendship between the five women, their lack of talent and their single-grouped destruction of feminism.

Now I think back to my seven-year-old self- my childish infatuation with the five women - and I didn’t see any of that. What I saw were five powerful, independent, brave, daring, bold women. They told us girls that we could be whatever we wanted, and all we needed were our friends.

I personally don’t see anything wrong with the fact they screamed ‘Girl Power’ across the globe all those years ago, but I find it impressive that the media are so quick to blame and scrutinise them now. Suddenly they have become social scapegoats, apparently responsible for a litany of wrongs, from binge drinking and Saturday night promiscuity to 'happy-slapping.' The exact same voices which once sung their praises, are now only too happy to sneer at their come-back.

In hindsight, and in light of the autobiographical revelations that followed the split, these women didn’t best embody the term ‘Girl Power’. Nevertheless, at the time even the critics of today had a soft spot for the five girls. At the height of their fame, they were a united, unstoppable global force. ‘Girl Power’, be it founded in fraud or not, mobilised a generation of girls to believe in themselves and achieve.

They may not be classic role models, but the Spice Girls taught me a few crucial life lessons:

1. I can be anything I want to be
2. A close network of actual friends are the key to happiness
3. To keep step with the media, we must be constantly on our toes

Oh… And whilst I’m more than happy to belt out Mamma I love you at the top of my lungs, you’ll be pleased to know that the crop top/ tracksuit bottoms/ platform trainers combo, will remain firmly in my 90s wardrobe.

By Pema Seely