“Fifteen minutes to show me what you’re made of
Fifteen minutes what are you afraid of
I’ve seen it done it you wanna know the trade-off
It’s heaven – it’s hell – being Geri Halliwell”
*Dancing frenetically. Finally stops after five minutes and catches her breath.*
See I was a huge Spice Girls fan when I was younger. These five chicks – no matter what tabloids advertised – were true bombs. And yes, everything they said and did consisted in pure marketing strategies specifically applied to attract young insecure girls like me. I bought the “Girl Power” merchandising, and I told all the schoolmates who bothered me to f*** off because I was tough now. What else could I do? The Spice Girls were everywhere.
My favorite was Geri. Ginger Spice. She represented everything I wanted to be as a grown woman. She knew how to rock my world the right way, even if again, it was all part of the game, but hey, it served me well!
My first concert ever was the Spice Girls. I had to ask for special permission to leave school early in order to go. The principal’s assistant kinda looked at me weird when I told him I had personal matters to attend. He acted like I had no such pressing matters and he urged me to tell him the truth. I said – Fine. I’m seeing the Spice Girls in concert tonight, and I’m going. No way I’m staying stuck here and I don’t see my idols! Of course, he let me go. Oh that was fun. I knew all their songs by heart, and I sang along. My parents even came with me, although I was fifteen years old. When you live in a small town, concert tickets are expensive, and you need to drive to the concert hall. I didn’t drive at fifteen. No other girlfriend did either. So my parents made the trip – and I must say, they liked it very much too. My mum loved Melanie C and my dad didn’t really care.
I breathed Spice Girls. I spoke Spice Girls.
“I’ll tell you what I want, what I really, really want
So tell me what you want, what you really, really want
I wanna, (ha) I wanna, (ha) I wanna, (ha) I wanna, (ha)
I wanna really, really, really wanna zigazig ah
If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends
(Gotta get with my friends)
Make it last forever, friendship never ends
If you wanna be my lover, you have got to give
Taking is too easy, but that’s the way it is”
My English sky rocketed I can tell you that much. LOL
When the band separated, I cried. I missed them A LOT. Geri released her first solo album and here we went for another round. But it wasn’t the same anymore. The energy and the fun had changed. I listened to every girl’s solo album – well I’m lying – I only bought Geri’s and Melanie C’s because the others were too talentless for me to pay attention to them. The first time I came to NYC, I found this ring in a store – really cheap ring – that had Japanese symbols on it. When I asked for the translation, I was told it meant Girl Power. *huge grin*
Years passed, I grew up, but I never forgot about them. I even got my tongue pierced on a whim while I was studying abroad in Berlin in 2006 – naturally I kept the piercing for six months and then I took it off. It’s not easy to eat with those things in your mouth you know. But I’m proud I did it!
Girl Power or pure rebellion, these women made me the woman I am today, and I still would love to meet Geri Halliwell in person. Maybe one day I will. Maybe she’s a real bitch and I will hate her too. Doesn’t matter. She helped me believe in myself and that’s all what counts.
The Manicheans 
So much fun! I never did get into the Spice Girls. 😉
Well they were kick ass. KICK ASS!!!!! Girl Power!