The first academic study of the Spice Girls phenomenon has provisionally cleared the quintet of corrupting primary school advocates of "girl power". Sexual and other adult overtones of the singers sail cleanly over the heads of six to eight-year-old girls, according to researchers at York University. Field work carried out in local primary schools suggested that the group triggered only a "feel-good" belief in "sticking up for ourselves and not doing what boys think".
Like the recent clearing of the Teletubbies of charges of ruining toddlers' English, the study also emphasised children's independence and common-sense adaptation of highly-marketed products to their own ends. "What young girls seem to want from the Spice Girls isn't an excuse to spend money or try to be like them," said Dr Ann Kaloski, of York's centre for women's studies, which commissioned the survey.
"They see them as an affirmation of what they already have in themselves - they are fun, feisty and within reach." Asked what they would most want if a magic wand sprinkled them with girl power, the children chose innocuous targets like winning swimming races and being able to do back flips.
There was a generalised ambition to "beat the lads", but girl power was significantly seen as being different from women, as well as from boys.
Girls aired reservations about adapting "boys' methods" to win the day, and there was very little interest in much-hyped Spice Girls products. "Few spent money on Spice Girls goods and we often found that they were happy to share a tape or video," said Dr Kaloski.
"The more expensive merchandise was usually a gift from an adult. Unaware of what their daughters really like about the Spice Girls, adults often encouraged them into consumption - hardly any of the girls in the survey had asked for items beforehand."