Ginger at 50: How the Spice Girls defined feminism for a new generation

As Geri Horner (née Halliwell) turns 50, Laura Hampson reflects on the girl band that championed ‘girl power’

At the time, they were the epitome of female friendship (Getty)

Geri Horner (or as most of us know her, Halliwell) is 50. The Spice Girl celebrates her milestone birthday on Saturday 6 August. Does anyone else feel old yet?

In a telling sign of my age, the Spice Girls’ Spice and Spiceworld albums were the first two I ever owned. I would spend afternoons after school placing them in my ginormous CD player and dancing to them without a care in the world.

I would listen as Geri, along with Melanie Brown (Scary), Melanie Chisholm (Sporty), Emma Bunton (Baby), and Victoria Beckham (Posh) belted out the lyrics to “Wannabe”, a track I would later realise was my first introduction to feminism.