How girl power rewrote the history of pop
Thirty years ago, five young women from the UK redefined what a pop group could be. When the Spice Girls burst onto the scene in 1996 with their debut single โWannabeโ, they helped to reshape discussions around gender, sexuality, power and pop culture. ย At first glance, their formula seemed straightforward; catchy music, bold personalities and an explicitly commercial brand. This helped the Spice Girls to dominate the pop charts of the 1990s and 2000s. But their approach was very rare for British female artists โ most girlbands relied on matching outfits and a unified look as opposed to the…