Jade Shapiro BA (Hons) Art & Design Dissertation
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A Critical Reading of the Spice Girls from 1994-2000. Jade Shapiro BA (Hons) Art & Design !1 Contents Page 3 Introduction; Here’s the Story from A-Z Page 6 Chapter 1; Slam Your Body Down and Wind it All Around Page 9 Chapter 2; Who Do You Think You Are Page 12 Conclusion; Viva Forever Page 15 Bibliography !2 Here’s the Story from A-Z Introduction In the year 2000, the Spice Girls split up. I, as a young girl who would stand attentively in front of the television screen, absorbed the wonders of the media and allowed Spice World to determine my ideals of adulthood. A badly applied iridescent sheen of pink lipstick smeared across my face and a hideous plastic microphone towering above me, I glued my eyes to the screen and patiently awaited my mum to press play on a video that was soon to be played repeatedly. With the boisterous cackle of Mel B’s laughter as my queue for show time, I took centre stage on what was, our living room carpet. Mesmerised by the fearless display of confidence and this overwhelming belief that I could conquer anything, my naive outlook on the world was sparkling with leopard print and platforms. Despite this admiration, I had little knowledge on the phenomenon that was to be formed by such an incredible force of female-forward representation. The term Spice Mania emerged from the compulsive enthusiasm in the press that spread worldwide faith in friendship and female empowerment (Heather Alexander, 2007). Growing up in the early twentieth century was an expansion on the legacy of the Spice Girls as an iconic five-some and a soundtrack to every young girls life that was enforced by peace signs and ‘zig-a-zig-ah’, a phrase from the hit song “Wannabe” (Spice Girls, 1996). In 1994, the Spice Girls were established as the best-selling pop girl group of the decade, soon to claim the title of ‘the UK’s biggest girl band’ (Mark Savage, 2019). The predominant representation of women’s independence began to influence every teen and suddenly the late nineties was a time of female liberation. A retaliation against discrimination birthed ‘girl power’ and the fight to push perceptions of gender capabilities in women; “It’s woman power, it’s an essence, a tribe”, (Geri Halliwell cited in Giles Hattersley, 2012). The impact of the media and the power of successful publicity gave a platform for world domination and the five personas of Scary, Ginger, Baby, Sporty and Posh were a global selling point as icons and ideologic characters. The Spice Girls used !3 their music career as a moment for global stardom as they signed deals with worldwide brands such as Pepsi and Walkers, stole front cover of the Rolling Stones magazine, met the Royal family and political leaders such as Nelson Mandela. Each of these opportunities were approached with a charm that gained the hearts of nation and a title of pop royalty in a refreshing collective of these five young girls. As a result of this success, the Spice Girls became respected, for standing and working alongside the respected. This reading is a critical analysis of the Spice Girls, the evolution of their music career and their collective identity as a representation of ‘girl power’; the motive behind one of the most iconic consumerist movements in the history of Britpop (Betsabé Nevarro, 2016). Why was it a crucial time to empower women in the media? In such a powerful time for gender rights, do we need the Spice Girls in 2020, now more than ever? In the mid-to-late 90s, the charts were dominated by the rise of rhythm and blues (RnB), Dance Anthems and the patriarch of Britpop. It was a decade unlike any other with the legacy it left behind for its radical combination of sounds and iconic trends in fashion. (Riley Raul Reese, 2016). The 1990’s was the height of Cool Britannia, a slogan promoted by Prime Minister of the time Tony Blair and a continuous focus on national identity. The music industry was a juxtaposition of both domination in Girl Power and Lad Culture. The British subculture of ‘laddism’ began to flood the UK and suddenly students were “tramp[ing] through Manchester pretending to be Liam Gallagher” (John Robb, 1999: 46). Men all over the country discovered a new found male celebration which sparked a nation famous for its football, casual clothing and aesthetic representation of an old English pub. Spice World was manufactured as a feminist break through during a pivotal moment in history for an undeniably strong force of male presence in the media (Alex Taylor, 2019). !4 “So? I hear you’ve written a couple of books.” I replied, “Several actually”. He said, in the way you encourage your friend’s seven- year-old to describe flute practice, “And what are they about?”, (Rebecca Solnit, 2008: 2) The quotation shown above is an extract from the 2008 essay titled Men Explain Things to Me written by American author Rebecca Solnit. Solnit uses her experience as a feminist author in order to reflect on her personal experiences and explore others to highlight the severity in the silencing of women (Rebecca Solnit, 2008). The reading confronts the impact of views of gender in communication and how stereotyping can influence perceptions of capabilities and roles within gender. Using the Spice Girls as a parallel to the subtitles within Solnits’ reading, I aim to draw upon the evolution of the Spice Girl’s music videography as a feminist revolution and the importance of this battle in the 1990s. Similarly to Solnit in her female-forward approach to equal rights, the Spice Girls revolutionised with their music videos for their determination to push gendered boundaries and freedom of speech. “Having public standing as a writer of history helped me stand my ground, but few women get that boost, and billions of women must be out there on this seven-billion-person planet being told that they are not reliable witnesses to their own lives” (Rebecca Solnit, 2008: 8). Solnit discusses her use of a public platform to speak and the positive impact that this advantage had on her response to “mansplaining”, the way in which the Spice Girls used their lyrics and spotlight in the public eye for message impact. In a persistent response to the declaration that “girls don’t sell”, (Melanie Chisholm cited in Pascale Day, 2018) , the Spice Girls formed a resistance and lyrics that are still influential to empowering female liberation today. !5 Slam Your Body Down and Wind it All Around When you hear the opening bars of “Wannabe”, a sense of nostalgia arises. The track is symbolically known as the emergence of the Spice Girls’ music career as influencers and the introduction to each member of the band as their ‘characters’. Filmed on location at St Pancras Renaissance Hotel in London, the location is now a landmark most famous for not only its various film sets but for it’s global recognition for the famous dance routine set on the staircase of the hotel. “Wannabe” birthed the phenomenon of the band as a brand and the influential message for which the Spice Girls are appreciated for today. The hit single and music video was used to showcase the spectacle of ‘girl power’ and was an act which referred to the views of Solnit’s theory of women fighting on two fronts of the ‘putative’ topic and the ‘right to speak’ (Rebecca Solnit, 2008: 10-11). The initiative to preach ‘girl power’ was acted upon as a platform for a spoken outlet and the famous slogan was a catalyst for the chance to confront in order to “have value, to be a human being” (Rebecca Solnit, 2008: 11). The styling of “Wannabe” reached a universal audience that catered for every kind of young girl watching and admiring. Each member used their styling within the video in order to launch their personalities as a collective and represent individuality within the female sector of the music industry. The girls burst into the video with a breakthrough that not only crashed a civilised party but reflected the social breakthrough of boundaries of the Spice Girls in the media during that time. Disruption is a focal visual in order to reflect this revolution, as chaos is formed with the introduction of the Spice Girls to a new audience, charming each individual with back flips and outlandish behaviour adequate enough to make cheeks blush. The ongoing battle for visibility of women in the media remained unchanged until Spice mania hit the nation. The dramatic underrepresentation of women in the media at the time was a reflection of the history of stereotyping in character representation and the effect of consistent image portrayal in perception of gendered capabilities. Television of the time was saturated with ‘dominant’ male figures followed by female figures ‘enmeshed in !6 relationships or housework’(Julia T. Wood, 2014: 32-33). The mass market of the media in newspapers, magazines, advertisement, film and television broadcasted this ideological character of the woman and set expectancies for this ideal. The Spice Girls introduced a force into the media with the launch of “Wannabe” that showcased confidence and enabled any stereotypes of submission in women to begin to be shadowed. Arrogance and ignorance is a focal aspect of Solnits’ discussion in the silencing of women and the way in which this overconfidence in men deters women from voicing their opinions; “The out-and-out confrontational confidence of the totally ignorant is, in my experience, gendered.” (Solnit, 2008: 4) The character of Mr.