The Spice Girls as one of the most successful bands of the nineteen-nineties have become particularly famous for their proclamation of 'girl power'. With reference to an interview-based study with fans and ex-fans of the girl group the article discusses to what extent 'pop feminist' phenomena like the Spice Girls can be considered a source of empowerment for young women and girls. The 'documentary method' is introduced as a method which allows the analysis of media reception as part of a popular culture. A mimetic approach towards the Spice Girls within this popular culture allows their fans to experiment in finding their own position between the contradictory demands society makes on them as adolescents. It will be shown that their complicated negotiations refer to an empowerment which cannot be adequately grasped within categories of resistance and incorporation of ideology.
girl culture; feminism; mimesis; methodology in audience studies