From Girl Power to Independent Women

Five years ago, the world got a taste of the British girl group, Spice Girls, and their message of "Girl Power!" Almost anywhere they went, the five members would look straight into the camera, flash their pearly whites, and yell, "Girl Power!" In almost all their interviews, they were not able to explain the idea of girl power effectively. Still, by uttering those two words anywhere they went, fans assumed the group personified whatever girl power meant. Five years later, Geri Halliwell, a.k.a. Ginger Spice, left the group. Their latest album, Forever, went the same direction as their anthem – nowhere. What happened to “Make it last forever, friendship never ends,” from the song that started it all, Wannabe?

Gone are the days when you could turn on the TV to see the Spice Girls yelling out their meaningless dribble of a girl power message. Does that mean girl power is dead? Not necessarily.

Turn on the radio and you'll hear songs by women who don’t need to have an in-your-face approach, like the Spice Girls’. Instead, they radiate their girl power through their lyrics. What once was the fun, cute, carefree girl power has turned into the independent, self-sufficient, “I don’t need a man to buy me anything” woman. The women singing in these songs, usually R&B based, have the money to buy whatever they want, and they will sure as hell let you know about it.

The women of Destiny’s Child, in Independent Women, say, “I pay my own fun, oh and I pay my own bills, always 50/50 in relationships.” The song also praises all women who are paying their way through life by asking “all the women who independent, all the honeys who makin’ money,” and “all the mommas who profit dollars,” to throw their hands at Destiny’s Child.

Destiny’s Child makes a note that “it ain’t easy being independent…If you’re gonna brag make sure it’s your money you flaunt, depend on no one else to get you what you want.”

Jennifer Lopez, whose on-again-off-again romance with widely-known big spender Puff Daddy (recently changed to P. Diddy) has brought in more publicity than she would have liked. Still, in her song, Love Don’t Cost A Thing, she says, “think I wanna floss, I got my own” and “think you gotta keep me iced you don't, think I'm gonna spend your cash, I wont, even if you were broke my love don't cost a thing.” It was as if she was singing to the rapper/producer himself.

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