Conclusion
The Spice Girls successfully harnessed the power of young girls to produce hit music and commercial success. They marketed “girl power” which made feminism accessible to a younger audience by focusing on female friendship and empowerment within a pop music context. By simplifying and assimilating feminism, the Spice Girls rallied millions of girls to their brand. Exploiting this success, Disney Channel began targeted this demographic with “girl power” programming. The Cheetah Girls came out of this as a diverse, relatable girl group. While both groups emphasized “girl power” within popular music, it is clear that the Cheetah Girls built off of and improved the Spice Girls model.
For example, the Cheetah Girls were much more diverse and explicitly portrayed age appropriate individuals. They, however, will always be considered a product of Disney, as characters rather than people, as a TV program, rather than the movement and cultural phenomenon that the Spice Girls became. Regardless, without the Spice Girls, the Cheetah Girls would have had a much more difficult time finding traction within a tween audience. Both the Spice Girls and the Cheetah Girls demonstrate the power of young girls. While young girls are often still ridiculed for their passions, their love for “girl power” produced unignorable commercial success.
A still from the first Cheetah Girls’ movie, “The Cheetah Girls” as they wait for a performance to begin.2
- Chris Heath, “Spice Girls: Too Hot to Handle,” 2018. This photo, positioned at the top of the page, comes from a promotional photoshoot the Spice Girls did to advertise their music.
- Kelsie Gibson, “The Cheetah Girls,” 2017.