Did Girl Power Fail Women in the ‘90s?

The 1990s marked a pivotal shift in feminism, transitioning from the intersectional, protest-oriented third-wave movement to a commercialized post-feminist era. The Riot Grrrl movement’s original political call for "Girl Power" was co-opted by the Spice Girls, reframing feminism as a consumer-driven identity focused on individual freedom rather than systemic change. This decade also saw the mainstreaming of patriarchal porn culture, which normalized violence and objectification, fundamentally altering societal perceptions of female sexuality. By replacing adult female icons with childlike sexual archetypes, the media landscape increasingly prioritized the male gaze. These cultural shifts established enduring patterns of misogyny and dehumanization that continue to influence contemporary pop culture, as seen in the ongoing tension between performative femininity and genuine empowerment in modern celebrity figures like Sabrina Carpenter.