Feminism has certainly seen its various forms and movements over the last 100 years. The most recent one is nowhere, and it is a little different from its past forms. Bimboism, or Bimbofication, is the latest form of new-wave feminism brought to us by Gen Z. As a reporter from VICE pointed out, it is certainly changing the discourse around female empowerment and what that means for us.
Bibofication Is Taking Over Feminism
In the past, being called a bimbo was a negative, derogatory term. If someone called you a bimbo, they were essentially telling you that you are not intelligent. Bimbo was essentially a term for “hot, but stupid”. This new wave of feminism, however, also known as bimboism, sees women reclaiming the word bimbo for themselves. They are redefining the term and using it to empower and uplift women rather than tear them down.
Bimboism is in a way a response to the girlboss wave of feminism that came before it. In girlboss feminism (the She-E-O), the goal was stated that women could climb the capitalist ladder just in the same way that men could. Reclaiming the bimbo, the girl who’s got “nothing in her brain”, is a different statement. This is more of an “I don’t care what you think of me, I’m just going to be over here on my own vibe”. While some argue it is setting feminism backwards, the pro-bimbos say quite the opposite. They’re saying it means more “we know who we are and we don’t need validation from other people”.
Ultra-Feminine
One of the struggle points in the forms of feminism that precursed bimboism is the idea that classically “female” traits were bad. While encouraging women to be more powerful, assertive, and take their claim in what was traditionally a man’s world, there was a downside. This often meant that being overly feminine, girly, or even “too hot” was a downside. It meant also adopting what we now call certain “toxic masculinity” traits. No emotion in the workplace, suck-it-up kind of attitude. It meant that if you weren’t hustling, you weren’t being a proper feminist.
Bimboism is essentially the opposite of that. It’s saying you can be hot, ultra-feminine, and not necessarily interested in climbing the theoretical capitalist ladder and still be a valuable woman. A sort of reclamation of the female body and all things girly.
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The Origins
As with most Gen-Z driven things, the origins of bimbofication began on TikTok. Chrissy Chlapecka was one of the first to kick this trend off. She began posting in late 2020. Her aesthetic is the doe-eyed, pink clothing and blond extensions-wearing hot girl. Her focus was inspirational messages for “girls, gays, and theys, or anyone unfortunate enough to be attracted to me”. She received a lot of praise for the things she said, but also an equal amount of hate. Mostly, of course, from men who often called her a bimbo in the comments section.
@chrissychlapecka baby… ur out of his league… PASS. #ily #ihatecapitalism #fyp #stopmen ♬ original sound – chrissy
“People in my comments section keep calling me a bimbo. I’m just going to go with it,” she said in a post. “At least follow my Instagram to give me external validation if you think I’m hot but not smart. Because you know what, you’re right, there’s not much going on in my head, there’s very little.”
This kicked off a wave of other TikTokers jumping on the term bimbo. All of the sudden, bimbo went from “dumb blond” to meaning empowered female.
“A bimbo isn’t dumb,” Chlapecka said in a video once bimboism began taking off. “Well, she kind of is, but she isn’t that dumb! She’s actually a radical leftist, who’s pro sex work, pro Black Lives Matter, pro LGBTQ+, pro choice, and will always be there for her girlies, gays and theys,”
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What Bimboism Means For Us
Essentially, bimboism can be for each individual whatever they need it to be. Sugar and Spice, two TikTok famous drag queens, say that anyone can be a bimbo. It’s for people of all genders, weights, races, ages, and classes.
“Are you a hyperfeminine woman? Are you really hot?” said TikToker Fauxrich in a video explaining the bimbo. “Do you not care about society’s elitist view on academic intelligence? Do you support all women, regardless of their job title, or if they’ve had plastic surgery or body modifications? I’m no doctor, but I think you may be a new-age bimbo!”
@fauxrich it’s my diagnosis, treatment is juicy couture and pink glitter
♬ original sound – 💖princess💖
Essentially, bimboism is about making women feel more comfortable and powerful just the way they are. It’s about saying that sure, you can be traditionally smart or be that powerful boss-lady CEO. If you’re not, however, that’s also okay. Just because you’re not trying to break into a male-dominated profession or you enjoy traditionally “female” things doesn’t make you anti-feminist.
“nobody can tell you how to be a bxmbo, because it isn’t about how people perceive you,” said creator Griffin Maxwell Brooks in a video. “The bxmbo has no gender, no class, no race or ability. The only requirement for bxmbofication is that you embrace and reclaim your body in the name of independence. All that matters is that you are both physically and mentally hot and sexy, on your own terms.”
@sugarandspice so let’s get this gay💅🏻 #lgbtq #bimbo #gay #genderfluid #nonbinary #pronouns ♬ original sound – SUGAR & SPICE✨
So basically bimboism says that you, as a woman or female-identifying person, can be whoever you want. You can be proud of you, your body, your origins, the way you talk and act, and you don’t need societal validation to give you that pride. It encourages dressing how you want, practicing self-care, lifting other women up, and refusing to engage with ignorance. It also encourages women to let others underestimate them. After all, who cares what they think? At the end of the day, you’re going to do you and be successful on your own terms.
The final word on bimboism is this: Let women live their lives the way they want to. If they want to be that powerful She-E-O, then you go girl! If they want to marry rich and be a stay-at-home wife, let them! As long as they are happy and confident, why does anything else matter?
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