Girl power explained

Girl power is a slogan that encourages and celebrates women's empowerment, independence, confidence and strength. The slogan's invention is credited to the US punk band Bikini Kill, who published a zine called Bikini Kill #2: Girl Power[1] in 1991.[2] It was then popularized in the mainstream by the British girl group Spice Girls in the mid-1990s.[3] According to Rolling Stone magazine, the Spice Girls' usage of "girl power" was one of the defining cultural touchstones that shaped the Millennial generation, particularly during their childhood in the 1990s.

Early usage and origins

In 1990, US punk band Bikini Kill started to make their self-titled feminist zine. Its first issue had the subtitle, A color and activity book.[4] A year later the band published the second issue of their Bikini Kill zine, with the new subtitle Girl Power.[5] The band's lead singer, Kathleen Hanna, said it was inspired by the Black Power slogan.[6] The authors of Young Femininity: Girlhood, Power and Social Change argue that the term also draws inspiration from 80s Black female, hip hop vernacular, "You go girl".[7]

The term became popular in the early and mid 90s punk culture. The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll credits the zine with coining the slogan: "In their feminist fanzine Bikini Kill they articulated an agenda for young women in and outside of music; the band put those ideas to practice. Bikini Kill earned a reputation in the punk underground for confronting certain standards of that genre; for example, asking people to slam at the side of the stage, so that women would not get pushed out of the front, and inviting women to take the mic and talk about sexual abuse."[8]

The phrase is sometimes sensationally spelled "grrrl power", based on the spelling of "riot grrrl".[9] [10]

Some other musical artists who have used the slogan in their music are Welsh band Helen Love, with it appearing in the chorus of their 1992 song "Formula One Racing Girls",[11] and pop-punk duo Shampoo,[12] who released an album and single titled Girl Power in 1995.

Spice Girls

British pop quintet Spice Girls brought the mantra into the mainstream consciousness in the mid-1990s.[13] [14] The Spice Girls' version of "girl power" focused on the importance of strong and loyal friendship among females,[15] with a message of empowerment that appealed to young girls, adolescents and adult women.[16] According to Billboard magazine, they demonstrated real, noncompetitive female friendship, singing: "If you wannabe my lover, you gotta get with my friends. Make it last forever; friendship never ends."

In all, the focused, consistent presentation of "girl power" formed the centrepiece of their appeal as a band.[17] [18] Some commentators credit the Spice Girls with reinvigorating mainstream feminism in the 1990s,[19] [20] with the "girl power" mantra serving as a gateway to feminism for their young fans.[21] On the other hand, some critics dismissed "girl power" as no more than a shallow marketing tactic, while others took issue with the emphasis on physical appearance, concerned about the potential impact on self-conscious and/or impressionable youngsters:[16] As American feminist Jennifer Pozner famously remarked, it was "probably a fair assumption to say that a 'zig-a-zig-ah' is not Spice shorthand for 'subvert the dominant paradigm.[22] Regardless, the phrase became a cultural phenomenon,[23] adopted as the mantra for millions of girls[17] [24] and even making it into the Oxford English Dictionary.[25] In summation of the concept, author Ryan Dawson said, "The Spice Girls changed British culture enough for Girl Power to now seem completely unremarkable."[26]

In 2018, Rolling Stone named the Spice Girls' brand of "girl power" on The Millennial 100, a list of 100 people, music, cultural touchstones and movements that have shaped the Millennial generation.[27]

Scholarship

In her 2002 book Girl Heroes: The New Force in Popular Culture, Susan Hopkins suggested a correlation between "girl power", Spice Girls, and female action heroes at the end of the 20th century.[28] A later book, Growing Up With Girl Power, by Rebecca Hains (2012) found that the phrase "girl power" and the media associated with it—such as the Spice Girls and girl heroes—diluted the phrase's impact from the riot grrrls' intent, making it more about marketing and selling the idea of empowerment than about furthering girls' actual empowerment.[29] [30]

The slogan has also been examined within the context of the academic field, for example Buffy studies. Media theorist Kathleen Rowe Karlyn in her article "Scream, Popular Culture, and Feminism's Third Wave: I'm Not My Mother"[31] and Irene Karras in "The Third Wave's Final Girl: Buffy the Vampire Slayer" suggest a link with third-wave feminism.[32] Frances Early and Kathleen Kennedy in the introduction to Athena's Daughters: Television's New Women Warriors, discuss what they describe as a link between girl power and a "new" image of women warriors in popular culture.[33]

Oxford English Dictionary

A 2001 update to the Oxford English Dictionary defined "girl power" as:

The dictionary further offers an example of this term by quoting from "Angel Delight", an article in the March 24, 2001 issue of Dreamwatch about the television series Dark Angel:

Criticism

The communications scholar Debbie Ging was critical of the "girl power" ideals, and linked it to the sexualisation of younger children, girls in particular.[34]

The sociologist Amy McClure warns against placing too much hope on girl power as an empowering concept. She says, "An ideology based on consumerism can never be a revolutionary social movement. The fact that it appears to be a revolutionary movement is a dangerous lie that not only marketers sell to us but that we often happily sell to ourselves."[35] Rebecca Hains also criticized mainstream "girl power" for its commercial function, arguing in Women's Studies in Communication that it "undermines true work towards equality, serving corporate interests at the expense of girls' personal interests," and called it an "updated version of 'commodity feminism.'"[36]

Despite the term's origins in Black Power and Black hip hop, Raisa Alvarado argues that the Girl Power movement "disproportionately centers white, middle and upper class girls." Further, Alvarado claims that "the ethos of girl power discourses, as propagated in popular culture... promote whiteness via neoliberal, postfeminist, and postrace representations of empowered girlhood."[37] Young Femininity authors Sinikka Aapola, Marnina Gonick, Jo Campling, and Anita Harris note that the Girl Power movement "appropriat[es]... images and discourses of black women's strength, power and agency to serve a mainly white middle-class young women" agenda.

Media and toys can present a narrow definition of what it means to be a girl, such as Mattel's Barbie. The "I can be" Barbie[38] embodied this concept of "girl power": that little girls can be anything they want when they grow up. Arguably, Barbie's image also presents narrow options with which girls can identify, limiting the potential of any "girl power"-themed line.[39]

In addition to concerns about girl power's implications for girls, some critics questioned its use by women. For example, Hannah Jane Parkinson of The Guardian criticized the term "girl power" as something "young women [that] are feeling more confident about calling themselves feminists and standing up for principles of equality" hide behind. She denounced the phrase for including the word "girl", claiming it encouraged the application of the term "girl" to adult women.[40]

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Bikini Kill Girl Power . Kathleen Hanna . https://web.archive.org/web/20150910052528/http://www.kathleenhanna.com/bikini-kill-girl-power-2/ . September 10, 2015 . September 15, 2021 . dead .
  2. Web site: Bikini Kill. 26 March 2021 . LCC Zine Collection . Blanca . Garcia Paja.
  3. Web site: Spice Girls: What happened to Girl Power?. BBC News. 24 May 2019. Alex. Taylor. 23 February 2021.
  4. Web site: Bikini Kill: A Color and Activity Book . https://web.archive.org/web/20211224172351/http://www.artzines.info/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Bikini-Kill.pdf . 2021-12-24 . ArtZines.
  5. Web site: Kathleen Hanna on Hit Reset, Her Recovery and Her Feminist Path . Coscarelli . Joe . July 11, 2016 . . 2017-06-13.
  6. Book: Marcus. Sara. Girls to the front: the true story of the Riot grrrl revolution. 2010. Harper Perennial. New York . 526068974.
  7. Book: Aapola . Sinikka . Gonick . Marnina . Harris . Anita . Young Femininity: Girlhood, Power, and Social Change . United Kingdom . Macmillan Education UK . 33 . 2005.
  8. Web site: Bikini Kill Bio . https://web.archive.org/web/20110507032300/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/bikini-kill/biography . dead . May 7, 2011 . RollingStone.com . 2017-06-13.
  9. Book: Gonick, Marnina. Girl Culture. 2008. Greenwood Press. Westport, Conn. [u.a.]. 978-0-313-33909-7. 310–314. https://books.google.com/books?id=arQy0v_PBx4C&q=Riot%20Grrrls%20grrl%20power&pg=PA311. Girl Power.
  10. Book: Leonard, Marion. Sexing The Groove: Popular Music and Gender. 1997. Routledge. London. 978-0-415-14670-8. 230–55. 'Rebel Girl, You Are the Queen of My World': Feminism, 'Subculture' and Grrrl Power . Sheila . Whiteley.
  11. Web site: Helen Love - Gabba Gabba We Accept You . Homepage.ntlworld.com . 2012-09-30 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20121023114007/http://homepage.ntlworld.com/elizabeth.ercocklly/helenlov.htm . 2012-10-23 .
  12. Web site: Shampoo - Interview by Alexander Laurence . Free Williamsburg . April 2001 . 2012-09-30 . 2019-06-04 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190604210230/http://www.freewilliamsburg.com/april_2001/shampoo.html . dead .
  13. From Title IX to Riot Grrrls . Harvard Magazine . January–February 2008 . 2012-09-30.
  14. News: Girl power | You've come a long way baby . BBC News . December 30, 1997 . 2012-09-30.
  15. Web site: "Girl Power is just a Nineties way of saying it." How feminism went pop during the reign of the Spice Girls. https://web.archive.org/web/20170221232809/http://pages.stylist.co.uk/people/spice-girls-wannabe-feminism-pop-girl-power-feminist-nineties-empowerment-posh-scary-sporty-baby-ginger. dead. February 21, 2017. stylist.co.uk. February 12, 2017.
  16. News: How the Spice effect still packs punch. BBC News. July 7, 2016. February 9, 2017.
  17. Web site: You've come a long way baby . BBC . 30 December 1997 . 18 February 2024.
  18. News: 20 years of Girl Power: Were the Spice Girls feminists or just opportunists? . . 6 July 2016 . Tanya . Sweeney.
  19. Spice Girls' 'Wannabe': How 'Girl Power' Reinvigorated Mainstream Feminism in the '90s. Billboard. 15 July 2016. 18 February 2024 . Jennifer . Keishin Armstrong.
  20. Web site: It's Time To Give The Spice Girls The Credit They Deserve. The Huffington Post. August 6, 2015. February 18, 2024 . Zeba . Blay.
  21. Web site: The Spice Girls were my gateway drug to feminism. The Guardian. 13 December 2012. 18 February 2024 . Rhiannon Lucy . Cosslett.
  22. News: Harris . John . Girl power as anarchism . 8 November 2021 . The Guardian . July 16, 2006.
  23. News: Will there ever be another girl band like the Spice Girls? . . 14 July 2016 . Rosie . Collier . 18 February 2024.
  24. Web site: Girl Power!: The Spice Girls and Feminism. The 13th Floor. July 9, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20170221233008/https://www.13thfloor.co.nz/?p=67296. February 21, 2017. dead.
  25. News: Article on "Girl Power" being added to the Oxford English Dictionary . . 17 January 2002 . 18 February 2024.
  26. Web site: Dawson . Ryan . https://web.archive.org/web/20050428082355/http://people.pwf.cam.ac.uk/rd286/rock/beatlemaniagirlpower.html . Beatlemania and Girl Power: An Anatomy of Fame . Bigger Than Jesus: Essays On Popular Music . University of Cambridge . 28 April 2005 . 17 February 2017.
  27. The Millennial 100: #2.The Spice Girls' 'Girl Power'. February 2, 2021 . Rolling Stone. October 17, 2018.
  28. Costi, Angela . Super Slick Power Chicks: The New Force or Elaborate Parody? . Senses of Cinema . October 4, 2002 . 18 February 2024.
  29. Book: Hains . Rebecca . Growing Up With Girl Power - Girlhood On Screen and in Everyday Life . 2012. Peter Lang . New York . 10.3726/b15101 . 978-1-4331-6577-1 . 8 November 2021.
  30. Hains . Rebecca . Power Feminism, Mediated: Girl Power and the Commercial Politics of Change . Women's Studies in Communication . 2009 . 32 . 1 . 89–113 . 10.1080/07491409.2009.10162382 . 143794585 . 8 November 2021.
  31. Web site: Karlyn . Kathleen Rowe . Scream, Popular Culture, and Feminism's Third Wave: I'm Not My Mother . Genders . 2003 . 2012-09-30 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120612004031/http://www.genders.org/g38/g38_rowe_karlyn.html . 2012-06-12 .
  32. Karras. Irene. 2002. The Third Wave's Final Girl: Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Thirdspace: A Journal of Feminist Theory & Culture. en. 1. 2. 1499-8513.
  33. Web site: Riley . Robin . Review of Early, Frances; Kennedy, Kathleen, eds., Athena's Daughters: Television's New Women Warriors . H-Net Reviews . May 2004 . 2012-09-30 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070610211640/http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=238391094059727 . 2007-06-10 . dead .
  34. Web site: Ging . Debbie . "Girl Power" doesn't empower: why it's time for an honest debate about the sexualisation of children in Ireland . https://web.archive.org/web/20161214012540/http://webpages.dcu.ie/~gingd/pdf/SexualisationOfChildren.pdf . 2016-12-14 . July 2007.
  35. Web site: Girl Power Ideology: A Sociological Analysis of Post-Feminist and Individualist Visions for Girls . https://web.archive.org/web/20080131183249/http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p108568_index.html . January 31, 2008 . McClure . Amy . Aug 14, 2004.
  36. Hains . Rebecca C. . Power Feminism, Mediated: Girl Power and the Commercial Politics of Change . Women's Studies in Communication . 1 April 2009 . 32 . 1 . 89–113 . 10.1080/07491409.2009.10162382 . 143794585 .
  37. Alvarado . Raisa . 2018 . Girl of Color-Power: Resisting the Neoliberal Girl Power Agent . PhD dissertation . University of Denver . ii-6.
  38. Web site: Barbie Toys & Playsets | Mattel. Mattel Shop.
  39. Book: Lamb . Sharon . Brown . Lyn Mikel . Sharon Lamb . Lyn Mikel Brown . Packaging Girlhood: rescuing our daughters from marketers' schemes . St. Martin's Griffin . New York . 2007 . 9780312370053 . registration .
  40. News: Stop calling women 'girls'. It's either patronising or sexually suggestive . . 8 July 2015 . 25 November 2016 . Hannah Jane . Parkinson.

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