You‘ve basically already said it in better ways, but I truly think bimbo feminism, similar to girlboss feminism, is built on the idea that you can cheat the system (capitalist patriarchy) while operating within it/complying with it. Which is a fallacy to begin with.
Let's break this down because I fundamentally did not agree with anything you said:
“The bimbo feminists will pay for their crimes”
This title is supposed to what, hold hyper feminine women accountable for the crimes of men?
In the epilogue you introduce your intentions by saying “…I may get heated during this piece but i don’t intend to be cruel to anybody…”
Then quite literally a paragraph underneath it say, “my disdain for the bimbo feminists is so severe… I had an itch to write about them, to incise and drain their ideology like an infected wound, because that is what I believe them to be.”
You began this essay with biased and harmful beliefs that demean a group of women, granted not a popularized feminist group, but still women.
Are we not all fighting the same fight? That we deserve to be treated equally and respectfully; not deemed to be acceptable or appropriate by anyone but ourselves.. or does that only apply to women who reject femininity, break other women down or get ahead in a capitalist environment?
You then go on to say, “the twenty-first century bimbo (ignoring the ‘feminist’ aspect for now) is characterised by hyperfeminine qualities like platinum blonde or dyed pink hair, heavy makeup, and revealing clothing made with textures such as fur, latex and lace. behaviourally, she speaks with a slow, sultry drawl, and celebrates her sexuality. she is not modest or timid; she is shrill, she is fun, she’s so crazy you can’t take her anywhere. in many ways she is an evolution of the ‘dumb blonde’ trope for the internet age.” Do you not see harm in reducing these women into yet another demeaning stereotype? The ‘dumb blonde’ was a male originated idea to begin with, meant to portray blonde actresses in early Hollywood as nothing but sexual objects. And yet you, sit here doing the same, demeaning women who would proudly fight for your right to be able to freely tear them down on the internet..
Furthermore you say the bimbo feminist “…figure was populari[z]ed by social media creators like Chrissy chlapecka... supposedly reclaiming stereotypes of women as unintelligent, shallow and promiscuous…”
Chrissy herself has responded to claims like yours saying “blaming those who are feminine for the way men treat [them] is not feminism”…
I would just like to state here first and foremost, I have never seen a ‘bimbo feminist’ arguing that every woman should be like her, instead you see them repetitively arguing that people can be two things at once. Or are you suggesting that the only women educated enough to be a ‘true’ feminist also have to reduce their feminine qualities to be taken seriously?
Not even close to the end of this woman hating rant you released, you asked “at what point does harmless fun become infantilizing and regressive?” I think that was a valid question, with the obvious answer being as soon as someone like you reduces these women to being nothing more than male-hungry attention whores…
You then go on to quote from the ‘bimbo manifesto’ a post you, yourself say “nobody should have paid any mind [to] this as it’s creator was only nineteen..”
Are you really trying to suggest that all bimbo feminists are following the belief of a child creator? You are literally diminishing women who use their platform to stand for something, granted they chose to dress provocatively but I think it speaks more to your close-mindedness then their inability to “think about the implications of their behavior…”
You continue to say that “bimbos satisfy the male gaze- after all, a lot of them advocate for plastic surgery and other cosmetic procedures…subject[ing] themselves to injuries by walking around in stilettos, or push their breasts up so far they risk giving themselves a black eye. In more extreme and fetishistic cases they cite their aims to look like blow-up dolls… contributing to a culture of fetishization and condescension.” The judgement you speak with seeps of jealousy and anger about women comfortable enough in their skin to want to display hyper-feminism - it also comes off as though you belief the only reason a woman would dare to look nice or enjoy the way she dresses every day is so that a man might look her way…
In the most hateful paragraph you wrote you say, “i think the ‘neon pink label’ summarises the entire condition of the bimbo. there are very real and deeply insidious real-world factors at play that leave women feeling helpless over their self-image and hoping to regain some control in the eyes of the men who hate them. misogynistic violence is on the rise, especially in the uk, and the manosphere insists that all women are stupid and worthless anyway, so some of them are bound to internalise it.3 but if all this pain can be packaged in something so pretty, maybe it will hurt a little less.”
Is this in an effort to find someone to blame for the way we are stupid and worthless in men’s eyes, is this an attempt at slut-shaming women who are free with their bodies - by hinting that their clothes are asking for us to be belittled? I don’t understand your intention behind labeling the bimbo feminist as harmful to the feminist movement. I don’t understand where your hatred towards feminine women comes from, and if I am a little honest it sounds like the rant of a teenage tomboy not wanting to wear pink… (no judgement I’ve been there, too)
You also say “despite the bimbos attempting to convince the world their heads are full of cotton wool, we know that’s not the case.” Girl, if it is someone’s prerogative to make people think her head is full of wool, it is not your place to shame her for doing so. It’s not even your business actually, because nothing that any of these bimbos actually do is harmful towards other women. If you don’t like it, stop looking.
You continue with, “…but i really don’t see what’s so funny about women reinforcing the same misogynistic jokes that have been used to diminish us since what feels like the beginning of time. this becomes especially insidious when these jokes seep into real-world psychology, and people begin spending ridiculous amounts of money on products and services they can’t afford because that’s their entire scope of femininity.” Suggesting that the whole essence of a bimbo feminist is what? To act as an advertisement for other women to change their appearance? This completely rejects the notion that sometimes people are uncomfortable in their bodies, and they take it into their own hands to find that comfort, who are you to judge what they do to achieve that feeling? You keep going saying, “….and don’t get me started on the bioessentialists who claim to be entirely ruled by their menstrual cycle to such a ridiculous point that it’s fundamentally identical to ‘women are too hormonal to be trusted with any task that requires logical thinking.’” Do you not realize how far behind medical research is when it comes to the anatomy of a woman, let alone her menstral, really.. Do you really want to be included in a group of people demeaning woman’s pain? Just because your cycle doesn’t affect every part of your life doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect other women that way…
In your final paragraph, you state, “all in all, bimbo feminism is part of a much larger wave of anti-intellectualism and undisputed ignorance across the internet. not only does it tap in to the fetish market, it demands the celebration of objectification, which lines up hand in hand with the current wave of anti-feminist, regressive ‘tradwife’ content plaguing the internet. not only that, it correlates to the rise in less gender-specific waves such as the chatgpt boom that holds dire consequences for the future of the quality of education. there’s no doubt about it - people are getting stupid and they’re getting lazy. and maybe i’m too woke or take myself too seriously, but this is a trend i vow to never be part of.”
You make valid points about the bimbo feminism being apart of undisputed ignorance across the internet, unfortunately I think you found yourself on the ignorant side. This whole post was a hateful essay about a group of women you have deemed as willfully unintelligent or lesser than because of the way they chose to portray themselves. In actuality the problem is this type of harmful thinking; reducing women who enjoy feeling sexy while being education into idiotic sexbots.
Feminism is about fighting for women everywhere to have the same equal rights as men, including freedom of expression. This trend is not something you have to be apart of, or even respect out loud, but to be part of the haters is not a helpful criticism, it’s being apart of the problem. I responded to your post because I felt like it was a close-minded and judgmental point of view and the amount of positive responses you got were alarming.
How are do we expect anyone to respect us when we don’t respect each other?
I really disagree with this idea that women should not critisize other women. IMO, women are the ONLY ones who should be critiquing the behaviour of women. You have presented an infantilising view of women who have no ability to affect their lot beyond begging men to treat us as equals. Why the fuck would they we don't seem to believe ourselves to be equal??
And I thoroughly disagree that "nothing any of these bimbos do is harmful to other women". When you demean and debase yourself by embracing the caricature of the 'stupid woman' that has been used to keep us down throughout time, you demean and debase ALL of us, and I will not just - as you suggest - "stop looking".
Thank you for your in depth comments it really articulated some of the thoughts I had while reading this article. I think that if we discredited things because they fall within the range of what is appealing to the male gaze, we quite literally would have nothing.
While I don’t fully agree with the essay,and you did make some valid points. I believe we need to stop infantilizing women. "Bimbo feminists" are real, intelligent, and capable individuals who are responsible for their actions. Moreover, we shouldn’t pretend that they exist in a vacuum; they operate within the context of the real world, where their actions contribute to and perpetuate the patriarchy, and that is an objective observable fact.
oh my god, yes! thank you for saying that, it's exactly what i thought while reading it. men already hate us, now we have women hating other women? it's gross and so uncalled for. especially the part where she slut-shamed women who are free with their bodies… it's upsetting that some women think that feminine women get all dressed and dolled up for the male gaze when that is the farthest from the truth. we don't care about men, we do it for ourselves. and yes, you can be super feminine, beautiful and still read complex books. this essay sounds a lot like jealousy...
the essay does not address hyperfeminine women, but the group of women who identify as bimbos and think they have no responsibility or effect on society whatsoever because 'they're just a girl'.
just need to say THANK YOU, this post made me feel so gross. I can’t say anything as eloquently as you did but the core idea itself that the author is just bashing and demeaning these women into 2-dimensional beings, and then blaming them for being too stereotypical when they’re literally not, they DO have their own brain and lives and opinions and you’re just throwing that all away and perceiving them as dumb YOURself. I feel like the post calls itself out when she mentions that men are going to look down on you no matter what when that’s literally what the author also does 😭😭 I hate hate hate that this pushes the idea that there’s a “perfect” way to be a feminist and a women, and that not fitting into that mold means you’re betraying feminism. It fucking sucks. You can never win. I thought the whole point of feminism was to break down this ideal that women are supposed to act in a perfect way. Sure, you don’t want them to cater to men, but you’ve just changed the rules and you expect them to base their entire personality and self-expression around whether it aligns with the “full feminist agenda”. Yknow how exhausting it is?? To feel like I have to make sure my every single move and expression and action is providing a good image on behalf of women and feminists? Why is my own personal image as a woman not acceptable? When tf did I become a poster boy for the communities I’m in?? You’re telling me I’m not a real feminist bc I don’t act the way you want me to? Because I don’t fit the specific image in your mind of what feminism looks like? It’s disgusting and exclusive and everything that feminism is AGAINST bc we should all be trying to support each other and learn about our different intersectional experiences of the world and the different ways we feel like expressing ourselves, not trying to fit us in a different cookie cutter box. I’m tired of hearing these perspectives and I’m tired of being excluded from a place that’s supposed to make me feel like I finally belong somewhere as a minority and I’m tired of having to be a perfect woman, in whatever form that is. I don’t even align myself with the ideals of “bimbo feminism”, but I can tell just from watching from the sidelines that I wouldn’t be included in wtv definition of feminism this author holds in her brain. I’m sorry that women exist and we have different ways of doing things and most importantly, I’m sorry that women might make mistakes sometimes in not proving feminism to be this perfect movement. I’m sorry we’re human. Ugh.
I agree with lots of your points where others I don’t as much. Since these women are selling an idea of what a girl should look & act like, though not directly, it’s still feeding into the patriarchal idea that women are stupid and only good for sex, so in essence it’s harming the women who are trying to get education and break away from gender norms. I like these points of your side, such as the fact that being hyper feminine isn’t a bad thing, and one should not be criticised for it and also the fact that women should uplift each other.
my brain implodes every time I hear girl math or I’m just a girl, why do we keep regressing to the idea that “women are stupid” or “women can’t do math” or women need to lie about their age
I think a lot of the bimbo aesthetic can (if it doesn’t outright) fall into this infantile language which is dangerous and so if neurodivergence is infantilised further (as it is often already), that can be harmful to neurodivergent people.
Reclaim neurodivergence? Then why aren’t they saying “autistic math”? Oh, wait,doing so would actually make the bigotry behind the sentiment way too obvious
I totally agree, the 2016 film, "Hidden Figures," tells the story of the unsung female mathematicians, engineers, and managers that got NASA to the Moon.
I definitely agree that the anti-intellectual aspect of "Bimbo feminism" has gotten out of hand. And the idea of "opting out" of capitalism by wielding the one (finicky and temporary) weapon patriarchy has allowed (a very slim subset of) women [ie: the thin, white, young and traditionally attractive ones] also has some obvious and problematic setbacks to it.
But that being said: I also think you don't give enough (or any) credit to the cool things bimbo feminism has done. I think there are ways to reclaim certain elements of femininity in a legitimately empowering way. I think subverting expectations of femininity is, in general, a good thing. I think teaching people not to judge women for how they dress goes in all directions. That there are still a lot of men AND women judge women for how they dress. I think women openly expressing sexuality and not feeling judged for getting plastic surgery are both very good things too. I'd even argue that giving women a version of feminism that isn't, like, theory based is helpful for spreading women's liberation to less educated and lower-income women. While I understand that some of these ideas have been misunderstood, or and at times even co-opted by patriarchy- I still see most of these things as general net-positives for the feminist movement.
honestly, even if we disagree on some points i really respect your opinion and i especially respect you putting it forth in a clear, insìghtful and respectful way. and you make some good points about making feminism more accessible and widespread!
Lowkey, you would get a lot more about this trend of feminism by looking at activists, sex workers, poets and cool queer girls in their mid 20's and early 30's rather than a misinformed19 year-old's notes app post. Like I can admit this aesthetic can easily be misinterpreted, but there are a lot of us who wear it with thoughtful intention too. And ultimately, I think we all just have different relationships to hyper-feminine aesthetics.
You mention platinum blonde hair as a hyperfeminine quality, but I must now point out that it is even more a *childlike* quality--some white children have platinum blond(e) hair naturally, but almost all of those children's hair will darken to a deeper blond(e) or brown in adolescence. An adult white woman with bleached platinum blonde hair is symbolically undoing part of her own puberty, and infantilism is definitely a part of the bimbo formula. And while most ideas of "himbos" portray a more adult kind of stupidity, there is a strain of the twink archetype in gay male circles that has a very similar childlike valence, the simultaneously feminized, stupefied, and infantilized "boi" who also often has bleached blond hair (and whose anus is often called a "boipussy", just to make it even more gross).
(Also why the fuck is this word, *and this word in particular* still gendered in English? Has some academic written a paper about that, because I would like to read it.)
I also find it really concerning how Substack's social dynamics seem to be providing a vector for truly rank misogyny normally associated with the far right to infiltrate leftist discourse through vulgar Marxists complaining about the longhouse and "millennial snot" (I am so sick of that stupid fucking article, I blocked the author and it still comes up again and again through people restacking it) and the like, and of course the reactionary side of Substack is taking the opportunity to gradually brownpill some of them on other issues like immigration, race, eugenics, etc.
The several lines about how this must be wrong in part because men will "enjoy"/"benefit" from bimbo-ism by either having their fantasies fufilled or having their stereotypes proven right don't seem quite right. The same is/was frequently said about loads of hip-hop/rap and surely that isn't a reason for people to stop enjoying/making things that feel true to them. If anything, there's loads of literature talking about why black artists should lean into some of these "stereotypes", why black nihilism/a "commitment to other-ness" might be a good tool in art and self expression; and it seems to me that the bimbo-ism has attempted to do something similar? And then, at some point, speculating about people's intentions in aligning themselves with these "stereotypes" and doing that speculation through the lens of what the oppressor "wins" might just center the oppressor over the oppressed..? Not sure
The person who in my opinion essentially created Bimbo Feminism, Chrissy Chlapecka, has recently come out as a lesbian, which to me (also a lesbian) is a shocking but not really shocking turn of events. Shocking in that so much of bimboism caters to the male gaze - stupid, childlike, blonde, thin fuck dolls - but also not really surprising in how much patriarchy is shoved down our throats and how complets factors into that. I certainly had a time before I realized I was a lesbian where I really played into societal standards - blonde, thin, focusing a lot of attention onto dating men - because I wanted to be “normal” (loaded statement, I know). It’s just crazy to me how blown out of proportion it seemed to get for Chrissy. Of course I’m not saying all of bingo feminism was built out of comphet cope - but the connections are there!
I loved this peice. It was thought provoking and I'm jealous I didn't think of these parallels first 😆. I especially appreciated the citations and reference links too 😊.
I am now convinced bimbo-ism is nihilism (it is painfully obvious after reading this article). Sadly I did not stop to look deeper at bimoification earlier as I follow several bimbo accounts on Instagram - but that certainly helped with seeing parallels and exercising your points so I could see them for myself 🙂
I wondered if bimoification is also an attempt at "reclaiming" that which men use against us? But as you have so wonderfully penned, why - on second thought - would we want to claim misogyny? 😝
The bimboism as a nihilism is a terrific connection !! I can’t help but notice that all this comes about in 2021 after the murder of George Floyd and the 2020 American election
Thank you for thisssss I have hated the “bimbo” resurgence since I first encountered it and I feel like it’s really helped to usher in an evil era on social media that we’re currently experiencing , like “I’m just a girl” and the relentless hyper fixation on appearance. Goes hand in hand with the rise of anti intellectualism and misinformation I think, both online and in politics, and I’d go as far to say it’s connected to the rise of fascism in the US as well, since fascism sees the body as an extension of the state and women’s bodies have been increasingly targeted by abortion bans
what’s crazy to me about it is that it’s literally just a kink to most ppl, but it somehow made it out of kink spaces and they feel the need to normalize it to a general audience? where young women and girls are watching?
I just wrote about how I don’t like the feeling after. I think that’s what “I’m just a girl” embodies. avoiding the serious feelings & dumbing yourself down because it’s a lot easier than “facing it like a man.” which is also wrong in its own way. it’s all avoidance. it’s all very sad. personally, I think we should stop gendering feelings. also, fuck nihilism.
tbh feminism is not about supporting all women, women can make mistakes and act stupidly and if youre a woman and you are making a huge mistake such as expanding this bimbo tradwife ideology you should be held accountable
this is my issue with “choice feminism” aka women thinking that anything they do is a feminist act just bc it was done by a women. Some things are just inherently anti-feminist and anti-woman, and women who are aware of the contradiction between their feminist thoughts and their anti-feminist actions have to justify it to themselves somehow.
exactly and choice feminism completely neglects intersectionality as well. not all women have choices in the first place, that mostly privileged choice feminists choose and claim to be empowering 😬 there’s a reason why choice/liberal/yt feminism is all the same.
this trend has been bothering me for ages and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it all / give it a name — agh, I loved this breakdown of it and why it sucks in a big way. not quite trailblazing 2 be reclaiming idiocy in the name of feminism 💟
it reminds me of the "reflexive impotence" Mark Fisher discusses in "Capitalist Realism" with regard to this generation's nihilism about unrelenting late stage capitalism- why keep up with world affairs if we know we're fucked? why protest if we know we're fucked? we care if we knew we're fucked?
bimbo feminism is dark and insidious and gleefully shits on the work of the women before who weren't even able to open bank accounts to over-consume with in the first place
you are brilliant and I'm sooooo with you in being a killjoy about it
also I can't wait to obsess over the concept of schrödinger’s satire for the next few weeks < 3
You‘ve basically already said it in better ways, but I truly think bimbo feminism, similar to girlboss feminism, is built on the idea that you can cheat the system (capitalist patriarchy) while operating within it/complying with it. Which is a fallacy to begin with.
Let's break this down because I fundamentally did not agree with anything you said:
“The bimbo feminists will pay for their crimes”
This title is supposed to what, hold hyper feminine women accountable for the crimes of men?
In the epilogue you introduce your intentions by saying “…I may get heated during this piece but i don’t intend to be cruel to anybody…”
Then quite literally a paragraph underneath it say, “my disdain for the bimbo feminists is so severe… I had an itch to write about them, to incise and drain their ideology like an infected wound, because that is what I believe them to be.”
You began this essay with biased and harmful beliefs that demean a group of women, granted not a popularized feminist group, but still women.
Are we not all fighting the same fight? That we deserve to be treated equally and respectfully; not deemed to be acceptable or appropriate by anyone but ourselves.. or does that only apply to women who reject femininity, break other women down or get ahead in a capitalist environment?
You then go on to say, “the twenty-first century bimbo (ignoring the ‘feminist’ aspect for now) is characterised by hyperfeminine qualities like platinum blonde or dyed pink hair, heavy makeup, and revealing clothing made with textures such as fur, latex and lace. behaviourally, she speaks with a slow, sultry drawl, and celebrates her sexuality. she is not modest or timid; she is shrill, she is fun, she’s so crazy you can’t take her anywhere. in many ways she is an evolution of the ‘dumb blonde’ trope for the internet age.” Do you not see harm in reducing these women into yet another demeaning stereotype? The ‘dumb blonde’ was a male originated idea to begin with, meant to portray blonde actresses in early Hollywood as nothing but sexual objects. And yet you, sit here doing the same, demeaning women who would proudly fight for your right to be able to freely tear them down on the internet..
Furthermore you say the bimbo feminist “…figure was populari[z]ed by social media creators like Chrissy chlapecka... supposedly reclaiming stereotypes of women as unintelligent, shallow and promiscuous…”
Chrissy herself has responded to claims like yours saying “blaming those who are feminine for the way men treat [them] is not feminism”…
I would just like to state here first and foremost, I have never seen a ‘bimbo feminist’ arguing that every woman should be like her, instead you see them repetitively arguing that people can be two things at once. Or are you suggesting that the only women educated enough to be a ‘true’ feminist also have to reduce their feminine qualities to be taken seriously?
Not even close to the end of this woman hating rant you released, you asked “at what point does harmless fun become infantilizing and regressive?” I think that was a valid question, with the obvious answer being as soon as someone like you reduces these women to being nothing more than male-hungry attention whores…
You then go on to quote from the ‘bimbo manifesto’ a post you, yourself say “nobody should have paid any mind [to] this as it’s creator was only nineteen..”
Are you really trying to suggest that all bimbo feminists are following the belief of a child creator? You are literally diminishing women who use their platform to stand for something, granted they chose to dress provocatively but I think it speaks more to your close-mindedness then their inability to “think about the implications of their behavior…”
You continue to say that “bimbos satisfy the male gaze- after all, a lot of them advocate for plastic surgery and other cosmetic procedures…subject[ing] themselves to injuries by walking around in stilettos, or push their breasts up so far they risk giving themselves a black eye. In more extreme and fetishistic cases they cite their aims to look like blow-up dolls… contributing to a culture of fetishization and condescension.” The judgement you speak with seeps of jealousy and anger about women comfortable enough in their skin to want to display hyper-feminism - it also comes off as though you belief the only reason a woman would dare to look nice or enjoy the way she dresses every day is so that a man might look her way…
In the most hateful paragraph you wrote you say, “i think the ‘neon pink label’ summarises the entire condition of the bimbo. there are very real and deeply insidious real-world factors at play that leave women feeling helpless over their self-image and hoping to regain some control in the eyes of the men who hate them. misogynistic violence is on the rise, especially in the uk, and the manosphere insists that all women are stupid and worthless anyway, so some of them are bound to internalise it.3 but if all this pain can be packaged in something so pretty, maybe it will hurt a little less.”
Is this in an effort to find someone to blame for the way we are stupid and worthless in men’s eyes, is this an attempt at slut-shaming women who are free with their bodies - by hinting that their clothes are asking for us to be belittled? I don’t understand your intention behind labeling the bimbo feminist as harmful to the feminist movement. I don’t understand where your hatred towards feminine women comes from, and if I am a little honest it sounds like the rant of a teenage tomboy not wanting to wear pink… (no judgement I’ve been there, too)
You also say “despite the bimbos attempting to convince the world their heads are full of cotton wool, we know that’s not the case.” Girl, if it is someone’s prerogative to make people think her head is full of wool, it is not your place to shame her for doing so. It’s not even your business actually, because nothing that any of these bimbos actually do is harmful towards other women. If you don’t like it, stop looking.
You continue with, “…but i really don’t see what’s so funny about women reinforcing the same misogynistic jokes that have been used to diminish us since what feels like the beginning of time. this becomes especially insidious when these jokes seep into real-world psychology, and people begin spending ridiculous amounts of money on products and services they can’t afford because that’s their entire scope of femininity.” Suggesting that the whole essence of a bimbo feminist is what? To act as an advertisement for other women to change their appearance? This completely rejects the notion that sometimes people are uncomfortable in their bodies, and they take it into their own hands to find that comfort, who are you to judge what they do to achieve that feeling? You keep going saying, “….and don’t get me started on the bioessentialists who claim to be entirely ruled by their menstrual cycle to such a ridiculous point that it’s fundamentally identical to ‘women are too hormonal to be trusted with any task that requires logical thinking.’” Do you not realize how far behind medical research is when it comes to the anatomy of a woman, let alone her menstral, really.. Do you really want to be included in a group of people demeaning woman’s pain? Just because your cycle doesn’t affect every part of your life doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect other women that way…
In your final paragraph, you state, “all in all, bimbo feminism is part of a much larger wave of anti-intellectualism and undisputed ignorance across the internet. not only does it tap in to the fetish market, it demands the celebration of objectification, which lines up hand in hand with the current wave of anti-feminist, regressive ‘tradwife’ content plaguing the internet. not only that, it correlates to the rise in less gender-specific waves such as the chatgpt boom that holds dire consequences for the future of the quality of education. there’s no doubt about it - people are getting stupid and they’re getting lazy. and maybe i’m too woke or take myself too seriously, but this is a trend i vow to never be part of.”
You make valid points about the bimbo feminism being apart of undisputed ignorance across the internet, unfortunately I think you found yourself on the ignorant side. This whole post was a hateful essay about a group of women you have deemed as willfully unintelligent or lesser than because of the way they chose to portray themselves. In actuality the problem is this type of harmful thinking; reducing women who enjoy feeling sexy while being education into idiotic sexbots.
Feminism is about fighting for women everywhere to have the same equal rights as men, including freedom of expression. This trend is not something you have to be apart of, or even respect out loud, but to be part of the haters is not a helpful criticism, it’s being apart of the problem. I responded to your post because I felt like it was a close-minded and judgmental point of view and the amount of positive responses you got were alarming.
How are do we expect anyone to respect us when we don’t respect each other?
I really disagree with this idea that women should not critisize other women. IMO, women are the ONLY ones who should be critiquing the behaviour of women. You have presented an infantilising view of women who have no ability to affect their lot beyond begging men to treat us as equals. Why the fuck would they we don't seem to believe ourselves to be equal??
And I thoroughly disagree that "nothing any of these bimbos do is harmful to other women". When you demean and debase yourself by embracing the caricature of the 'stupid woman' that has been used to keep us down throughout time, you demean and debase ALL of us, and I will not just - as you suggest - "stop looking".
No, like im surprised to see so many girls in the comments eating this up like….. This reminded me of them red pill boys rants…
Thank you for your in depth comments it really articulated some of the thoughts I had while reading this article. I think that if we discredited things because they fall within the range of what is appealing to the male gaze, we quite literally would have nothing.
100% I’m glad I wasn’t alone in that thinking, so many of the responses were just blindly agreeing.
While I don’t fully agree with the essay,and you did make some valid points. I believe we need to stop infantilizing women. "Bimbo feminists" are real, intelligent, and capable individuals who are responsible for their actions. Moreover, we shouldn’t pretend that they exist in a vacuum; they operate within the context of the real world, where their actions contribute to and perpetuate the patriarchy, and that is an objective observable fact.
oh my god, yes! thank you for saying that, it's exactly what i thought while reading it. men already hate us, now we have women hating other women? it's gross and so uncalled for. especially the part where she slut-shamed women who are free with their bodies… it's upsetting that some women think that feminine women get all dressed and dolled up for the male gaze when that is the farthest from the truth. we don't care about men, we do it for ourselves. and yes, you can be super feminine, beautiful and still read complex books. this essay sounds a lot like jealousy...
the essay does not address hyperfeminine women, but the group of women who identify as bimbos and think they have no responsibility or effect on society whatsoever because 'they're just a girl'.
just need to say THANK YOU, this post made me feel so gross. I can’t say anything as eloquently as you did but the core idea itself that the author is just bashing and demeaning these women into 2-dimensional beings, and then blaming them for being too stereotypical when they’re literally not, they DO have their own brain and lives and opinions and you’re just throwing that all away and perceiving them as dumb YOURself. I feel like the post calls itself out when she mentions that men are going to look down on you no matter what when that’s literally what the author also does 😭😭 I hate hate hate that this pushes the idea that there’s a “perfect” way to be a feminist and a women, and that not fitting into that mold means you’re betraying feminism. It fucking sucks. You can never win. I thought the whole point of feminism was to break down this ideal that women are supposed to act in a perfect way. Sure, you don’t want them to cater to men, but you’ve just changed the rules and you expect them to base their entire personality and self-expression around whether it aligns with the “full feminist agenda”. Yknow how exhausting it is?? To feel like I have to make sure my every single move and expression and action is providing a good image on behalf of women and feminists? Why is my own personal image as a woman not acceptable? When tf did I become a poster boy for the communities I’m in?? You’re telling me I’m not a real feminist bc I don’t act the way you want me to? Because I don’t fit the specific image in your mind of what feminism looks like? It’s disgusting and exclusive and everything that feminism is AGAINST bc we should all be trying to support each other and learn about our different intersectional experiences of the world and the different ways we feel like expressing ourselves, not trying to fit us in a different cookie cutter box. I’m tired of hearing these perspectives and I’m tired of being excluded from a place that’s supposed to make me feel like I finally belong somewhere as a minority and I’m tired of having to be a perfect woman, in whatever form that is. I don’t even align myself with the ideals of “bimbo feminism”, but I can tell just from watching from the sidelines that I wouldn’t be included in wtv definition of feminism this author holds in her brain. I’m sorry that women exist and we have different ways of doing things and most importantly, I’m sorry that women might make mistakes sometimes in not proving feminism to be this perfect movement. I’m sorry we’re human. Ugh.
sorry couldn’t get past the third paragraph where you called the foreword/disclaimer an “epilogue,” proving the author’s point of a need for education
I agree with lots of your points where others I don’t as much. Since these women are selling an idea of what a girl should look & act like, though not directly, it’s still feeding into the patriarchal idea that women are stupid and only good for sex, so in essence it’s harming the women who are trying to get education and break away from gender norms. I like these points of your side, such as the fact that being hyper feminine isn’t a bad thing, and one should not be criticised for it and also the fact that women should uplift each other.
Insanely incorrect and ignorant comment. Love to see it
my brain implodes every time I hear girl math or I’m just a girl, why do we keep regressing to the idea that “women are stupid” or “women can’t do math” or women need to lie about their age
To be fair, a lot of that may be an attempt to reclaim neurodivergence. I’ve seen a lot of ADHD/bipolar/BPD positivity in the “bimbo” aesthetic
But I feel like that’s quite individual??
It is, but I also think the bimbo aesthetic is inherently individualistic
I think a lot of the bimbo aesthetic can (if it doesn’t outright) fall into this infantile language which is dangerous and so if neurodivergence is infantilised further (as it is often already), that can be harmful to neurodivergent people.
Oh absolutely. That’s an excellent point
Reclaim neurodivergence? Then why aren’t they saying “autistic math”? Oh, wait,doing so would actually make the bigotry behind the sentiment way too obvious
I totally agree, the 2016 film, "Hidden Figures," tells the story of the unsung female mathematicians, engineers, and managers that got NASA to the Moon.
Great piece that reminds us all of two very important things:
1. All feminism should be intersectional and based in reading and praxis
2. Not every 19 year old with a theory/manifesto is a wunderkind
I definitely agree that the anti-intellectual aspect of "Bimbo feminism" has gotten out of hand. And the idea of "opting out" of capitalism by wielding the one (finicky and temporary) weapon patriarchy has allowed (a very slim subset of) women [ie: the thin, white, young and traditionally attractive ones] also has some obvious and problematic setbacks to it.
But that being said: I also think you don't give enough (or any) credit to the cool things bimbo feminism has done. I think there are ways to reclaim certain elements of femininity in a legitimately empowering way. I think subverting expectations of femininity is, in general, a good thing. I think teaching people not to judge women for how they dress goes in all directions. That there are still a lot of men AND women judge women for how they dress. I think women openly expressing sexuality and not feeling judged for getting plastic surgery are both very good things too. I'd even argue that giving women a version of feminism that isn't, like, theory based is helpful for spreading women's liberation to less educated and lower-income women. While I understand that some of these ideas have been misunderstood, or and at times even co-opted by patriarchy- I still see most of these things as general net-positives for the feminist movement.
honestly, even if we disagree on some points i really respect your opinion and i especially respect you putting it forth in a clear, insìghtful and respectful way. and you make some good points about making feminism more accessible and widespread!
Lowkey, you would get a lot more about this trend of feminism by looking at activists, sex workers, poets and cool queer girls in their mid 20's and early 30's rather than a misinformed19 year-old's notes app post. Like I can admit this aesthetic can easily be misinterpreted, but there are a lot of us who wear it with thoughtful intention too. And ultimately, I think we all just have different relationships to hyper-feminine aesthetics.
You mention platinum blonde hair as a hyperfeminine quality, but I must now point out that it is even more a *childlike* quality--some white children have platinum blond(e) hair naturally, but almost all of those children's hair will darken to a deeper blond(e) or brown in adolescence. An adult white woman with bleached platinum blonde hair is symbolically undoing part of her own puberty, and infantilism is definitely a part of the bimbo formula. And while most ideas of "himbos" portray a more adult kind of stupidity, there is a strain of the twink archetype in gay male circles that has a very similar childlike valence, the simultaneously feminized, stupefied, and infantilized "boi" who also often has bleached blond hair (and whose anus is often called a "boipussy", just to make it even more gross).
(Also why the fuck is this word, *and this word in particular* still gendered in English? Has some academic written a paper about that, because I would like to read it.)
I also find it really concerning how Substack's social dynamics seem to be providing a vector for truly rank misogyny normally associated with the far right to infiltrate leftist discourse through vulgar Marxists complaining about the longhouse and "millennial snot" (I am so sick of that stupid fucking article, I blocked the author and it still comes up again and again through people restacking it) and the like, and of course the reactionary side of Substack is taking the opportunity to gradually brownpill some of them on other issues like immigration, race, eugenics, etc.
The several lines about how this must be wrong in part because men will "enjoy"/"benefit" from bimbo-ism by either having their fantasies fufilled or having their stereotypes proven right don't seem quite right. The same is/was frequently said about loads of hip-hop/rap and surely that isn't a reason for people to stop enjoying/making things that feel true to them. If anything, there's loads of literature talking about why black artists should lean into some of these "stereotypes", why black nihilism/a "commitment to other-ness" might be a good tool in art and self expression; and it seems to me that the bimbo-ism has attempted to do something similar? And then, at some point, speculating about people's intentions in aligning themselves with these "stereotypes" and doing that speculation through the lens of what the oppressor "wins" might just center the oppressor over the oppressed..? Not sure
couldn’t have worded it any better
The person who in my opinion essentially created Bimbo Feminism, Chrissy Chlapecka, has recently come out as a lesbian, which to me (also a lesbian) is a shocking but not really shocking turn of events. Shocking in that so much of bimboism caters to the male gaze - stupid, childlike, blonde, thin fuck dolls - but also not really surprising in how much patriarchy is shoved down our throats and how complets factors into that. I certainly had a time before I realized I was a lesbian where I really played into societal standards - blonde, thin, focusing a lot of attention onto dating men - because I wanted to be “normal” (loaded statement, I know). It’s just crazy to me how blown out of proportion it seemed to get for Chrissy. Of course I’m not saying all of bingo feminism was built out of comphet cope - but the connections are there!
I loved this peice. It was thought provoking and I'm jealous I didn't think of these parallels first 😆. I especially appreciated the citations and reference links too 😊.
I am now convinced bimbo-ism is nihilism (it is painfully obvious after reading this article). Sadly I did not stop to look deeper at bimoification earlier as I follow several bimbo accounts on Instagram - but that certainly helped with seeing parallels and exercising your points so I could see them for myself 🙂
I wondered if bimoification is also an attempt at "reclaiming" that which men use against us? But as you have so wonderfully penned, why - on second thought - would we want to claim misogyny? 😝
Thank you, and newly subscribed ✨️
The bimboism as a nihilism is a terrific connection !! I can’t help but notice that all this comes about in 2021 after the murder of George Floyd and the 2020 American election
It may also come from the 90s/Y2K nostalgia resurgence, which was a lot more slut shamey back then
Thank you for thisssss I have hated the “bimbo” resurgence since I first encountered it and I feel like it’s really helped to usher in an evil era on social media that we’re currently experiencing , like “I’m just a girl” and the relentless hyper fixation on appearance. Goes hand in hand with the rise of anti intellectualism and misinformation I think, both online and in politics, and I’d go as far to say it’s connected to the rise of fascism in the US as well, since fascism sees the body as an extension of the state and women’s bodies have been increasingly targeted by abortion bans
I found “stop observing and perceiving” particularly disturbing.
what’s crazy to me about it is that it’s literally just a kink to most ppl, but it somehow made it out of kink spaces and they feel the need to normalize it to a general audience? where young women and girls are watching?
I just wrote about how I don’t like the feeling after. I think that’s what “I’m just a girl” embodies. avoiding the serious feelings & dumbing yourself down because it’s a lot easier than “facing it like a man.” which is also wrong in its own way. it’s all avoidance. it’s all very sad. personally, I think we should stop gendering feelings. also, fuck nihilism.
tbh feminism is not about supporting all women, women can make mistakes and act stupidly and if youre a woman and you are making a huge mistake such as expanding this bimbo tradwife ideology you should be held accountable
this is my issue with “choice feminism” aka women thinking that anything they do is a feminist act just bc it was done by a women. Some things are just inherently anti-feminist and anti-woman, and women who are aware of the contradiction between their feminist thoughts and their anti-feminist actions have to justify it to themselves somehow.
exactly and choice feminism completely neglects intersectionality as well. not all women have choices in the first place, that mostly privileged choice feminists choose and claim to be empowering 😬 there’s a reason why choice/liberal/yt feminism is all the same.
this trend has been bothering me for ages and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it all / give it a name — agh, I loved this breakdown of it and why it sucks in a big way. not quite trailblazing 2 be reclaiming idiocy in the name of feminism 💟
it reminds me of the "reflexive impotence" Mark Fisher discusses in "Capitalist Realism" with regard to this generation's nihilism about unrelenting late stage capitalism- why keep up with world affairs if we know we're fucked? why protest if we know we're fucked? we care if we knew we're fucked?
bimbo feminism is dark and insidious and gleefully shits on the work of the women before who weren't even able to open bank accounts to over-consume with in the first place
you are brilliant and I'm sooooo with you in being a killjoy about it
also I can't wait to obsess over the concept of schrödinger’s satire for the next few weeks < 3