In this engaging and provocative series, Dr Javid Abelmoneim poses some of the most profound questions facing the UK today.  Is the way we treat boys and girls in childhood the real reason we still haven’t achieved true equality between men and women in adult life?  And could stripping away the pink and blue – and the other more subtle ways that boys and girls are shaped to be different – be the way to raise kids with abilities and attitudes that are the same regardless of their gender?

In two hour-long programmes for BBC Two, Dr Javid is setting out to find answers in a bold but simple experiment.  He is taking over Year 3 in Lanesend primary school  in the Isle of Wight, aiming to remove all differences in the way boys and girls are treated  and to see if, after a term of ‘gender neutral’ treatment, he can even out the gaps in their achievement across a range of important psychological measures – from self-confidence to emotional intelligence.

Former Spice Girl Geri Horner looks back on the 1990s and reflects on her own incredible journey from working-class Watford girl to international superstar. She describes it as a decade of hope and opportunity that gave young people the freedom to be themselves and break down barriers.

Set against a backdrop of great political and social change, including the release of Nelson Mandela, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the election of New Labour, the 1990s was also a decade which saw a homegrown cultural revolution. The music and art scenes exploded, and suddenly Britain was the place to be. Britpop and girl power conquered the charts, and Geri herself became the iconic face of Cool Britannia in her famous Union Jack dress.

But fame didn’t arrive until the mid-1990s for Geri, and she reflects on the key events that shaped her life before becoming part of one of the most successful girl bands of all time. She talks movingly about her close friendship with her pop idol pin-up George Michael and recalls how supportive he was when she left the Spice Girls and embarked on her solo career. Watch here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08jg8nk