Girl Groups
"Girl group" is a popular descriptive term referring to a genre of all-female singing groups and to the distinctive style of music such agroup performs. Sexual desire is essential to the girl group image and sound. The genre was nonexistent in the sexually restrictive, first half of the twentieth century, although some all-female groups (like the Boswell and Andrews Sisters) existed. The rise of the genre helped challenge sexual mores in society and helped nurture the growth of a youth-driven culture in America. By 1960, the image of the girl group was everywhere in popular culture—spread across the nation through radio and television. The genre had its ultimate expression in the Supremes in the 1960s. By the 1990s, the image of the girl group, such as the Spice Girls, had become an established musical and cultural symbol.
The girl group image alludes to both youthful innocence and sexual desire (desire usually for the heterosexual men for whom the groups were originally marketed). Traditionally a trio or quartet in number, members are young, attractive women who are groomed in a noticeable way—they appear in matching clothes, for example, or wear designer dresses. Their hair is styled fashionably and members often wear makeup.
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