What exactly is a bimbo? Well, if you'd asked me in 2008, I might have suggested that you were thinking of a very stupid – albeit attractive – girl. When conceding that a bimbo is usually good-looking, I might add the caveat that all her features, from her boobs to her Botox, are artificial and therefore not deserving of my much-sought-after respect. I may as well have raised my arm and said, 'Pick me, patriarchy!"
The top Urban Dictionary definition of bimbo is a “girl [notably, not a woman] who is stupid, wears lots of makeup and is obsessed with boys and clothes," which aligns perfectly with 12-year-old me's limited understanding of internalised misogyny.
A decade or so later, my perception of bimbos is markedly different. Having witnessed the much-needed cultural shift in the way women are treated in the media (and broader society), I can admit that it's time to challenge my former beliefs and meet the people embracing bimbofication.
Chrissy Chlapecka is a 21-year-old content creator from Chicago. Since creating her TikTok account in 2019, she's amassed an impressive 4.2 million followers with whom she shares her musings about being a modern-day bimbo. So err, what is a modern-day bimbo?
Chrissy tells GLAMOUR that a bimbo is someone who wants to “celebrate and appreciate their own hyper-femininity, which they express in their own, special way – not allowing misogynistic standpoints of femininity get in the way of you being f*cking amazing and incredible."
It's something that Chrissy does, quite magically. A quick scroll down their TikTok, and you're greeted by the princess you always wanted to be when you grew up (at least for me anyway): pink hair, pink platform boots, and the flutteriest lashes known to womankind. The best part? She's witty, intelligent, and innovative – all traits that we're traditionally socialised to associate with masculinity.
In one of their most popular TikToks, Chrissy responds to criticism they've received over reclaiming the term ‘bimbo’, saying:
“A modern-day bimbo doesn't need to know “what a mortgage is” or “how to file taxes,” but we do know it's time to let go those who are in prison for marijuana charges when the states that they're in have decriminalised marijuana […] And we also know that capitalism is the root of all evil, but it's almost impossible to consume ethically in a capitalist society, so let's stop blaming each other.”
Of course, Chrissy isn't ignorant of the word ‘bimbo’'s sexist history – quite the opposite. She tells GLAMOUR, “In the past, the word ‘bimbo’ has been used to put down women – to see them as one-dimensional," adding that the term has historically been used to reduce women to nothing more than their bodies, in particular, their bodies' capacity for sexualisation.
The early ‘00s was a famously toxic time for famous women, with heroin-chic at its peak, sex tapes being released without consent, and the #MeToo movement still years away from entering mainstream discourse. And in many cases, the bimbo trope served to legitimise the ill-treatment of women in the press.
Kim Kardashian and Pamela Anderson were both victims of revenge porn in the late nineties/early noughties, with their supposed inherent dumbness (a defining trait of bimbos) used to not-so-subtly justify the slut-shaming they subsequently experienced.
Kim's monumental success over the following decades was traced back to her sex tape – rather than her business acumen – while the creators of Pam & Tommy, a TV show about the impact of a sex tape on Pamela's life, didn't think it necessary to obtain her unique insight (or even her consent) during its production.
Although Chrissy is something of a pioneer when it comes to #BimboTok, she's not the first person with a shock of platinum blonde hair to coyly subvert the bimbo trope. Some of the most beloved characters in popular culture are ‘dumb blondes’ who are – wait for it – not so dumb, after all.
Think Cher Horowitz in Clueless, who breezily details why Haitian refugees should be welcomed into America (an issue still desperately relevant in 2022); Shelley Darlingson in House Bunny, who helps save a nerdy sorority from being shut down; and, of course, Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, who channels her heartbreak into surviving and thriving at Harvard Law school, what like it's hard?
But it's easy to see what these characters have in common: they're played by thin, white, conventionally attractive actors, suggesting that to subvert the bimbo trope, you must – at least – adhere to the prevailing beauty standard. This is where #BimboTok moves away from its predecessors.
Griffin Maxwell Brooks, a non-binary, queer content creator, explains that “the new age of bimbofication is more inclusive” with “so many beautiful creators of all different races, sizes, abilities, genders, and sexualities [participating in] the bimbo trend.”
They tell GLAMOUR that, as one of the first people to start posting on #BimboTok, one of their main goals was to convey that “there are no physical or identity-based requirements to being a Bimbo – it’s all about the reclamation of self/one’s own body.”
They add: “I think the [Bimbo] movement as a whole has been about confidence – about embracing yourself and staying true to the expression and identity that makes you feel the best, and I know that it has helped people become more confident just like me.”
Despite self-confidence being one of the core pillars of bimbofication, there are still some people who aren't entirely convinced. “To anybody who claims that bimbofication reinforces negative stereotypes: there is no reason that femininity, sexuality, or sexual liberation should be considered negative or a cause for misogyny,” explains Griffin.
Bimbofication, and the art of personal liberation, is for nobody but yourself.
Griffin MaxwellThey add, "Often, people accuse me of sexualising myself and femininity to pander to the male gaze, which is entirely misguided. I’ve made it clear from the beginning that bimbofication, and the art of personal liberation, is for nobody but yourself. I dress the way I do because I want to, and I feel no need to impress men or appease those who consider it a negative for people to embrace themselves fully because of how the patriarchy might react.
“Women and femmes are entitled to their own bodies and sexuality, and to insinuate that self-expression is always a form of pandering is reductive and useless.”
Chrissy, who describes Griffin as one of their “best friends”, agrees: “There's so much more to being a bimbo than looks or being hypersexualised. There's nothing wrong with sexualisation – if it's on your own terms – and that's still a big part of being a bimbo. It's so important because we're teaching people that femininity is OK, it's OK to want to be feminine!"
Ready to join #BimboTok? Griffin has some advice:
“Come as you are, wear what you want, love who you please, and don’t worry about anybody’s business but your own. That’s the Bimbo way!”
I don't know about you, but I'm in.
For more from Glamour UK's Lucy Morgan, follow her on Instagram @lucyalexxandra.
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