Bimbofication: What Would Cause a Woman to Become a Bimbo?

“Hello everybody! How is your day going? Well mine’s going amazing. Already today I’ve dyed my hair bleach blonde, and have trampled over another Trump supporting sugar daddy! You a little confused? Aww sweetheart, don’t worry! When I popped to the shop this morning to buy my lip filler, I couldn’t count to £4.50. But hey, that doesn’t matter, because not only am I a radical leftist but I am also super hot, and “if YOU are not hot then get hot!”

Um, but surely not too long ago, young intelligent women aspired to bee something a bit more than a bimbo? Better bet to go into stem or something… But the whole purpose of the so called “new aged bimbo” is thought to be about reclaiming the degrading term, and to instead utilize it in an empowering way.

Bimbo vs New Aged Bimbo

Believe it or not, the term “bimbo” was traditionally used to describe attractive men. But as time progressed, it came to be associated with attractive, but “unintelligent” and “frivolous” women. During the early 00s it was used to describe celebrities including Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and even Amy Winehouse. Yet more recently still, it’s been used to describe a transformation, or “glow up” of someone, often as they become progressively more sexualised.

Only really recently did the term “new aged Bimbo” come about. Whereby mainly young women on TikTok produced pink, glitzy videos empowering women, while voicing support for BLM, the LGBT+ community and sex work.

Feminist Empowerment

It is understandable that women are going to want to reclaim the term Bimbo for themselves, and allow it to enable them to embrace their femininity, as previously women dressing in this hyper feminine way were almost downgraded. And as you can guess, too much femininity was associated with traits including lack of intelligence. This may have led to women being afraid to express too much femininity. Yet as one “Bimbo” states, empowering feminist movements have been spun by misogyny into things like the “not like the other girls” saying, in aim to please the man. New aged Bimbos are all too aware of this, and instead it seems their aim is to encourage women to be more sexual for themselves, rather than for men. Ironically this resembles much of what men want, yet the political views they advocate in their videos are of which many of these men may be likely to oppose. While of course the movement does aim to be more inclusive, welcoming people of all ethnic backgrounds, genders, ages and size.

Political Message?

You are not going to need to spend much time on bimbo TikTok to realise there is some kind of political message at hand, but then you may ask yourself, why are they all still pretending to be dumb? Perhaps irony, but that’s not all! Because like it or not, someone with the appearance of a classical bimbo tends to be perceived as less intelligent, compared to their counterparts who perhaps embrace a less feminine style. But now, women have had enough. Health student Syerena, one of the popular new aged bimbos off TikTok ironically asks “why can’t we just print more money”. She points out that it is “not a protest against intelligence, it’s kind of a protest against academia and how elitist and classist it is.” But in my view, it is certainly an attempt to challenge some off the (incorrect) assumptions regarding beauty and intelligence, because although bimbo TikTok is filled with women possibly pretending to be dumb for show, it soon becomes clear they are all bright women. Furthermore of course the videos are filled with rather explicit political statements😃

Thembos and Himbos

As it aims to be inclusive, of course it should openly welcome trans and non binary people. But what I found especially interesting, was the idea of the “himbo”, considering the term’s recent associations. A “himbo” has been described as “a very attractive male, (who is) sometimes a bit dim, is very sweet and always respects women.” But this begins to make sense considering A) the fact men are often shamed for dressing in a certain feminine way and B) that it is harder for men to be vulnerable due to the stigma attached ; which is a reflection of the extent of the negativity associated with more feminine traits or behaviors.

Its Limits

While the movement is supposed to be inclusive, I have noticed that there are disproportionately fewer people of colour featuring, meaning they are less likely to feel as included. Furthermore the typical appearance of the new aged bimbo is still a strong reflection of western beauty standards possibly suggesting that being thin, blonde and white are still important. Meanwhile why should such an “empowering” movement be so heavily focused on the outer appearance.

Conclusion

A true new aged bimbo should believe that regardless of how you look, you are attractive, and personality is more important. Yet we know how much society focuses on outer appearance. But there still are good intentions and perhaps it is a good stepping stone in the right direction.

Sources:

What is the meaning of ‘bimbofication’? Six best Twitter memes! (hitc.com)

Bimbos are good, actually (mashable.com)

New Age Bimbos and Bimbofication TikTok Trend (refinery29.com)

What is Bimbofication? Meaning and Meme Explained – Stanford Arts Review

What is the meaning of ‘bimbofication’? Six best Twitter memes! (hitc.com)

Calling All Hot Idiots: Why 2021 Is The Year Of The Bimbo Renaissance (pedestrian.tv)

What’s a Himbo? And Why Is the Internet Obsessed With Them? – InsideHook

Urban Dictionary: Himbo