Get rid of the boy bands and let girls be girls.

—

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been a girl’s girl and I’ve got my mom to thank for that because my mom showed me the Spice Girls.

I loved the Spice Girls.

My favorite was Baby Spice. My mom liked Posh and my dad liked Scary.

In soccer, I literally refused to wear cleats. I would only play in my platform sneakers like Baby Spice. At recess, I would make my friends sit and watch me perform my Spice Girl routines. There was also the time that my parents had a huge birthday party for me – jumper, pony rides, you name it – and I left my own party to be alone in my room so I could sing Spice Girls on my karaoke machine. After a while, my grandma came into my room looking for me. I made her sit and watch me perform Spice Girls instead of returning to the party.

More importantly, I always took pictures with their signature girl power, peace-sign pose.

That was the most important thing that I learned from them, Girl Power.

As a little girl just barely 4-5 years old, girl power spoke volumes to me.

It was weird because I looked around and I felt like I had no one to relate to because I didn’t know any other girls that loved Spice Girls the way I did.

All the girls I knew were obsessed with *NSYNC or the Backstreet Boys.

I didn’t get it.

It wasn’t because I thought boys had cooties or whatever the case, I just genuinely was not interested. There wasn’t anything they could do that could keep my attention. I didn’t even know Justin Timberlake’s name until he started dating Britney Spears and that was only because I cared about Britney.

Britney had a boyfriend, not Justin had a girlfriend – get what I’m saying?

I was about the girls and I didn’t understand why girls were so obsessed with these boy bands.

What about them could I relate to?

Spikey Hair? Nope.

Abs? No.

Fedoras? HELL NO.

So what’s the damn deal? I don’t see myself in any of that.

I saw myself in the Spice Girls.

I saw myself in the glitter, the dresses, the make-up, their hair, their confidence, platform sneakers, the way they sounded, the way they danced, what they sang about, and their biggest message of all – GIRL POWER.

I remember watching Spice World with all of them running around, peace-signs up, declaring girl power. They made being a girl seem so fun and so free. It made me love my girlhood because of it. They embodied everything I wanted to be when I grew up.

And honestly, I think I am a Spice Girl.

Chrome Spice, of course.

Sure, I may not be a British pop sensation but I am a confident, young woman with dreams of living a life more than life itself. I want to work hard and have fun while doing it; and I don’t want anyone to get in the way of that, that’s what girl power is all about. It’s something I will take into every aspect of my life.  I’m forever thankful that my mom introduced me to the Spice Girls rather than *NSYNC. I think it made all the difference and influenced me to be the woman I am today.

This is why we need to stop pushing young girls to fan over boys.

Boy bands are designed and marketed as a product to sell to young girls. From as young as preschool, you see little girls fanning over icons like Justin Bieber or One Direction. Treating these boys like gods influences little girls to think that life is all about relationships with boys and that the best thing that could ever happen to them is attention from their “crush.”

What if little girls were surrounded by “If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends. Make it last forever, friendship never ends” instead of “One less lonely girl, there’s gonna be one less lonely girl.”

Spice Girls gave girls someone to dance with. Justin Bieber gives girls someone to dance for. There’s a difference and it makes an impact. Don’t you think little girls would view their world differently and feel differently if they were taught to be more concerned about themselves rather than a boy.

There’s nothing as delicate as a child’s mind and even as we grow, there are so many parts about us that stem from the best and worst moments of our childhood.

A study done by the journal, Science, shows that girl’s lose faith in themselves by the age of six.

Maybe this would be different if we taught girls to be the leaders.

If we stopped teaching girls to be the fans and taught them to be the show.

To be the star, not the audience.

Spice up your life and inspire girls, it could make all the difference.

Happy International Women’s Day, GIRL POWAA’! ✌🏽