In The Guardian today, former/current Spice Girl Geri Halliwell let her thoughts be known on feminism:
So, is Halliwell a feminist?
The question clearly hits a nerve: what, she asks quickly, do I mean by feminism? Well, I tell her, for me feminism is about the fact that women still aren’t treated equally, which raises issues of justice. OK, concedes Halliwell, maybe she is a feminist: but she has a few distinct caveats. One objection seems to be that she fears feminism will emasculate and demoralise men: but her bigger problem is its image. “It’s about labelling. For me feminism is bra-burning lesbianism. It’s very unglamorous. I’d like to see it rebranded. We need to see a celebration of our femininity and softness.”
So much for girl power. Zig-ah-zig-ahhhh?
Digg
Facebook
del.icio.us
five comments
That's funny. If she hadn't mentioned the old stereotypes she would be rebranding it.
Posted by Erin
October 25, 2007, 7:33 AM
Sob. You're destroying my utopic feminist vision where you, me, Beyonce, Kelly Clarkson and all five of the Spice Girls march arm in arm into the sunset of equality. Okay, it's not you who's destroying it, it's Geri Halliwell. Why, Geri, why?
Posted by Thea
October 25, 2007, 8:18 AM
Drat you beat me to it Stacey May.
I didn't even know you could add "ism" to "lesbian" - thanks Geri for taking women and lesbians back ten years. Bravo.
When everyone was nostalging and gushing about the Spice Girls two months ago,
http://www.shamelessmag.com/blog/2007...
I bit my tongue and said nothing, lest I look like the grumpy old frump of the group.
But seriously. Can we stop taking the Spice Girls seriously now? Please?
These comments from Geri - and Victoria's popularization of the extreme diet book "Skinny Bitch" - really just add to the pile of evidence that while they might be confident and empowered, they aren't feminists, role models, or feminist role models.
Although I concede that Sporty at least seems decent and down-to-earth, as well as talented - I wouldn't say the same of any of the others.
Posted by Zoe
October 26, 2007, 6:57 AM
Oh Zoe, never bite your tongue for the sake of not looking like a grumpy old frump! I wrote the "I (Heart) the Spice Girls" post partly out of curiousity to see if I was totally batty, or if others had similar warm feelings...if you had said things were getting bananas, I wouldn't have been taken aback.
Actually Sporty herself had this interesting thing to say about queer rights the other day:
"At first that [the lesbian rumours] made me laugh because it wasn't something that ever crossed my mind.
And then it kind of p***** me off when I thought, “Because I have short hair and am quite muscular with a few tattoos, am I the stereotypical lesbian?”
But Sporty Spice has now calmed down, adding: 'I don't think it did me any harm. I've always had a huge lesbian and gay following."
Okay, definitely not what I would've wanted her to say but I was just glad that she didn't completely equate being called a lesbian with insult.
Posted by Thea
October 26, 2007, 9:07 AM
Wow thank the lord that there's an actual lady that exists in the world today. I respect this spice girl a lot more now. Modern day women can call it "ignorance" all they want, but I know that neither me nor any of my friends would ever consider dating a bra-burning feminist.
Posted by Bobby
March 29, 2008, 9:20 PM
Leave a comment
This blog post is older than 90 days old. All comments submitted regarding this post will be automatically held for review by the editors before posting. Your comment will not appear on the site until it has been approved.
Our comment policy
Shameless prides itself on the diversity of opinions expressed by our writers, and we encourage and appreciate different points of view. Our intention at Shameless is to foster community and to maintain a safe and positive blogging environment; we do not consider it our duty to give a voice to anybody with an opinion.
Discussion on this site is moderated. We will delete comments that:
(We get to decide what's discriminatory, hateful, attacking, or inflammatory).
In some cases, we will cap off comments on a discussion when we feel they are spiralling out of control and fostering an unwelcoming space for bloggers and readers. Comments will be closed by the Web Editor, unless the post is by the Web Editor, in which case the Editor in Chief will close them.
If your comments repeatedly make the same point, they may be deleted. This also applies to comments made by multiple members of the same organization.
Your comments should be about the topic of the post, not its writer—although we certainly encourage praise for our writers, if you want to say something nice.