girl power

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

a slogan and cultural attitude asserting and celebrating the confidence, strength, independence, and agency of girls and young women, associated with the 1990s feminist pop culture moment exemplified by the Spice Girls and the riot grrrl punk movement; girl power challenged the cultural expectation that girls should be passive, deferential, and defined by their relationships with others, and encouraged a generation of young women to assert themselves, pursue their ambitions, and value female friendship and solidarity; critics argue that the commercial co-optation of girl power reduced a potentially radical feminist message to consumer identity and shallow empowerment disconnected from structural inequality; the phrase has experienced multiple revivals and remains a popular expression of solidarity and encouragement between women and girls