What did the Spice Girls teach you about being a girl, and what did it cost the women who taught it?
This week, Page joins me to talk about Melanie Chisholm's memoir The Sporty One: My Life as a Spice Girl, a long, diary-like book that doubles as Mel C's thank-you to the people who carried her along the way and her chance to reclaim her own story. We start with why the group meant so much to us growing up, from our favorite songs and favorite Spice Girls to the way five distinct personalities showed a generation of girls they could be more than one thing.
From there, we follow Mel C from a working class childhood and a lonely stretch of neglect to a dance school in London, a flyer that changed everything, and a band that first called itself Touch. We talk about Michelle, the almost Spice Girl, Emma's arrival, and the moment the group decided to write their own music instead of accepting a man's version of what young women wanted to say. We also get into the Spice names, which were handed to them rather than chosen, and why Scary Spice gave us pause.
We also talk about the harder parts of the book, including the comment about her thighs that sent Mel C spiraling, the culture of thinness the group both absorbed and promoted, and a management style of divide and rule that pulled apart a band singing about friendship. Mel C writes openly about disordered eating, depression, and the long road to getting help, and we talk about why asking for help is so hard for so many of us. Along the way, we swap stories about work ethic, imposter syndrome, working mom guilt, and more.
Please note that this conversation includes discussion of childhood neglect, disordered eating, and depression.
We came away from this book with a lot of love for a woman we thought we already knew, and a reminder to applaud ourselves more. Share this conversation with the friend who still knows every word to "Wannabe."
"As far back as I can remember, I set my sights on being someone. Someone that mattered. Something that stood out. I wanted, neededattention and I worked out at a very young age thatthe stage was the place to get that. But the attention and adoration came at a price. I got everything I wanted but I had never felt so lonely. I became ill- physically, mentally, and emotionally. But I survived.” - Melanie Chisholm aka Sporty Spice (excerpt from her memoir, The Sporty One)
Books referenced:
The Sporty One: My Life as a Spice Girl by Melanie Chisholm
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Xx, Alex
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