Monday, April 7, 2014

"Girl Power" vs Feminism

So as I child I was obsessed with the spice girls, I had the movie on VHS, the greatest hits CD, the magazine from a concert my older sister went to etc. There was one phrase that was always repeated and followed by a peace sign "Girl Power!". Now that I’m older I wonder what this exclamation really means. As I become a feminist and looked into people I had always admired and claimed they believed in girl power I read the things they said that seemed to contradict that statement such as how Ginger Spice herself, Geri Halliwell, said, “For me feminism is bra-burning lesbianism. It’s very unglamorous” and this wasn’t an uncommon reaction. I was disappointing and frankly didn’t quite understand the difference between “girl power” and feminism. But I think I’ve come to a conclusion. Girl power is a watered down,pacifist, way to say you believe in women’s rights issues,without taking the responsibility of the reactions you may receive and your beliefs. Its the media’s version of a way to profit of feminism without things getting too out of hand or people becoming to involved. Apparently feminism is a bad word (I even heard someone refer to it as the “f word”) but if we dress it in pink, stick some flowers on it and call it “Girl Power” its alright.

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