- Melanie C, also known as Sporty Spice, responded to accusations that the Spice Girls appropriated the iconic phrase 'girl power', acknowledging that the British punk band Shampoo had used it for their 1996 debut album and title track.
- While the Spice Girls are widely credited with popularising “girl power” in the mid-Nineties, Melanie C admitted she did not recall exactly how they adopted the phrase, but confirmed the group were big fans of Shampoo.
- The origins of 'girl power' can be traced further back to the early Nineties feminist punk scene in Olympia, Washington, known as Riot Grrrl, with Bikini Kill singer Kathleen Hanna reportedly coining the term.
- Geri Horner, or Ginger Spice, confirmed she first encountered the phrase through Shampoo, rather than Bikini Kill, and defended the Spice Girls' use of it as a form of 'passing the baton' and a 'punchy term'.
- The article highlights an ongoing discussion about whether the Spice Girls' use of 'girl power' genuinely revived the feminist movement or was primarily a marketing strategy, despite its earlier roots in punk culture.
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