I really really really wanna zig-a-zig-AH!

On this week’s episode of Deep Thoughts, Tracie and Emily delve into the global phenomenon of the Spice Girls. Tracie explains how she saw the inevitability of Spicy world domination while living in London in 1997 and decided to embrace the manufactured pop group’s grrl power, despite feeling leery of the mixed messages these sexualized young women were sending. Though the group became a feminism gateway for a number of young girls (and inspired Adele!) and emphasized the importance of friendship and solidarity, the sisters do have to grapple with the reality of Scary and Baby Spice’s horrifying nicknames and the overwhelming body scrutiny the women were subjected to.

Here’s the story from A to Z–you gotta throw on your headphones and listen carefully!

Mentioned in this episode

Ms. Mojo: Top 20 Celebs Who Shot Down Homophobic Interview Questions
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/28/arts/music/spice-girls-girl-power.html
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/dec/13/spice-girls-feminism-viva-forever
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/spice-world-1998

Content warning: Mentions of eating disorders and body shaming
Our theme music is "Professor Umlaut" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Learn more about Tracie and Emily (including our other projects), join the Guy Girls' family, secure exclusive access to bonus episodes, video versions, and early access to Deep Thoughts by visiting us on Patreon.

That’s so funny I forgot to laugh!

On this week’s episode, Emily and Tracie welcome Mallory Henson to talk about her reverence for the TV show Pee-wee’s Playhouse. Mallory introduces the sisters to the path Paul Reubens took to develop the character of Pee-wee Herman and how the show recreated the joyful chaos of a child’s mind while also teaching intentional lessons on acceptance and intercultural curiosity. While not everything has aged perfectly–there was a misogynistic and fatphobic joke from the first season of the show that stuck like a splinter in little 8-year-old Emily’s mind–it’s clear that Reubens was a loving and joyful entertainer who delighted in making his fans happy.

Connect the headphones, la-la-la-la, listen to the podcast, la-la-la-la

For more from Mallory, check out her Instagram

Content warning: Discussions of fatphobia

Mentioned in this episode
https://hommes.studio/journal/what-is-memphis-design-style/

Our theme music is "Professor Umlaut" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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Learn more about Tracie and Emily (including our other projects), join the Guy Girls' family, secure exclusive access to bonus episodes, video versions, and early access to Deep Thoughts by visiting us on Patreon.

Party Time! Excellent! [Extended guitar solo]

On this week’s episode of Deep Thoughts, Emily revisits the most important cultural touchstone of the late 20th century: Wayne’s World. In addition to introducing an entire generation to Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, this film presented a surprisingly complex characterization of Tia Carrere’s Cassandra and taught us that Milwaukee is the only major American city to have three Socialist mayors. While not everything holds up to 30 years of hindsight–the film doesn’t pass the Bechdel test, leans into the crazy ex-girlfriend trope, and makes a joke about police committing sexual assault–this remarkably sunny, silly, and sweet film still has a lot to offer modern audiences.

Exsqueeze me? Baking powder? Why haven’t you started listening already?

Content warning: Mentions of domestic violence, discussion of sexualized police violence

Mentioned in this episode
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/waynes-world-1992

Our theme music is "Professor Umlaut" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Learn more about Tracie and Emily (including our other projects), join the Guy Girls' family, secure exclusive access to bonus episodes, video versions, and early access to Deep Thoughts by visiting us on Patreon.