How TikTok and Gen Z redefined the core principles of the bimbo — CHECK-OUT (2024)

“Twelve-year-old me would be obsessed with me now, and that’s all that matters.”

Bimbo used to be a bad word. When it first came into use, in the early 20th century, it was actually supposed to describe dumb men ('bimbo' means 'male baby' in Italian). Very quickly though, it became a term thrown at a certain type of woman. Dumb blondes with big tit*. ‘Airheads’ in designer heels. Girls who were more into lip gloss and little dogs than amassing PHDs.

By the 1990s and 2000s, bimbos were being splashed across tabloids and used as an example of everything women shouldn't be (Jessica Simpson, Paris Hilton, Katie Price, Chantelle Houghton). People rolled their eyes when bimbo queen bee PARIS HILTON said things like, “I don’t really think, I just walk.” But, just like saddle bags, butterfly clips and Playboy, the bimbo is having an unexpected resurgence. This time though, she’s powerful, self-aware and a little more political.

Gen Z bimbos have found their glittery pink home on TikTok. Users in impeccable makeup espouse the core principles of modern bimboism: self-love, looking hot and, more often than not, leftist politics (which is maybe what sets them apart from other bimbo-adjacent incarnations – the #GIRLBOSS for instance, a la the cast of Selling Sunset.) “Are you a leftist who likes to have your tit* out?” asks CHRISSY CHLAPECKA, a self-proclaimed bimbo who has amassed 1.7 million followers on the app. “Do you like to flip off pro-lifers? Then this is the place for you.”

The resurgence of bimbo culture didn’t start with TikTok. Bimbos like Danish model and sex worker ALICIA AMIRA, self-proclaimed “founder of the bimbo movement” has long been reclaiming the term. Amira uses Instagram to document her bimbofication. Bimbofication – a sexual fetish and viral meme – refers to the eroticised transition from smart and reserved to air-headed and overtly sexy. The kink is controversial, but today women are undertaking the bimbofication process on their own terms, whether they’re monetising it through OnlyFans or doing it just for fun. “We're reclaiming the word Bimbo and ending stigma,” Alicia explains. “Women and non-binary people who love plastic surgery are stigmatised. Sex workers are stigmatised. Instagram censorship is at an all-time high. Sex work is being attacked. Being a bimbo is all about being the best hyperfeminine sexual version of yourself on a daily basis. Living life as a bimbo is a work of art.”

The bimbo comeback may be the latest addition to the Y2K trend, but “for a lot of people, myself included, this isn’t a trend,” says 24-year-old drag bimbo MARLA SINNER. “It’s a lifestyle.” Marla originally came across the bimbo subculture on Instagram through accounts like Alicia’s (despite the 'bimbo' hashtag being banned on Instagram; another nail in the coffin for sex worker censorship on the platform). She suggests the rise of BimboTok is part of people in their twenties realising that they can actually be exactly what they wanted to be when they were kids now that they’re grown up.

“You’re in this space that allows you to get crazy long nails, have Bratz doll lips or a bright pink room!” Marla enthuses. “You hit a point in life where that’s not allowed and you need to essentially grow up. I just decided one day that I was going to do things that would make me happy. Twelve-year-old me would be obsessed with me now, and that’s all that matters.”

Many TikTok bimbos also feel like they are making up for lost time. “In high school, I remember thinking I’d rather be anything but a ‘girly girl,’” says 22-year-old bimbo BELLA ANDERSON. Fearing that people would assume she was “dumb, ditzy, materalistic and vapid” if she engaged in hyper-feminine interests and aesthetics, Bella cut her hair short and wore mostly t-shirts and jeans. It’s common for teenage girls to go through a phase where they reject anything pink and sparkly in order to seem more grown up and be taken seriously. Bella describes discovering BimboTok as “an identity revolution” because it creates a space where girly interests and aesthetics are celebrated rather than shamed.

“In a lot of movies and books I watched and read as a kid, ‘tomboys’ or girls who can fit in as ‘one of the boys’ are lauded as more interesting, more intelligent, and overall more admirable main characters because of their more stereotypically masculine traits,” Bella continues. “On BimboTok, I saw the word bimbo taken back and used proudly for the first time.” TikTok bimbos say that loving pink, wearing heavy makeup and not knowing or caring about the offside rule is aspirational; that you don’t need to ‘grow up’ and adopt a more serious outlook or aesthetic. It’s declaring that ‘bimbo’, and the hyper-feminine look that is associated with it, has lost its power to wield as an insult.

“The bimbo trope was once used to demean and humiliate hyper-feminine women,” says BUNNY THE BIMBO, who calls herself “the fat Elle Woods”, “but now we’re reclaiming it.” Bunny specialises in making videos about bimbo theory, which she calls Bimbology. “We acknowledge that being a bimbo is a mindset, and its root is about confidence and unapologetically loving yourself and your body,” she explains. “It’s about challenging capitalist patriarchal concepts. We also challenge this idea of academic and class elitism within even liberal circles where intelligence is seen as something you must have to succeed; it isn’t!”

That the bimbo movement thriving on TikTok is anti-capitalist may come as a surprise. Traditionally, being a bimbo was more about designer handbags and expensive cosmetic surgeries than tearing down consumerism and critiquing patriarchal structures. After all, the upkeep of hyper-femininity – make-up, manicures, new clothes – isn’t cheap. However, many on Bimbotok view capitalism as complicit in making women hate themselves and their femininity. Being a bimbo is about self-love and embracing your hotness, on your own terms, rather than being objectified and side-lined.

At school, Chrissy Chlapecka would constantly get D grades in maths. She says that people saw her as, “the dumb blonde bimbo, but I knew that there was much more to me than just my bad grades and sparkly make-up.” Bimboism is questioning the meaning of intelligence. The mainstream perception of what makes someone ‘intelligent’ is often rooted in classist and ableist ideas. Chrissy suggests that emotional intelligence should be valued just as much as good grades or book smarts. “My emotional intelligence has always been my strongest suit,” she says. On TikTok, Chrissy uses that emotional intelligence to help others; giving advice, sharing positive affirmations and “encouraging people to stop letting men with a brain the size of a speck of dust hurt them!”

Chrissy describes being a bimbo as “a mindset” above all else. The bimbos of the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s might have all looked the same – thin, white, blonde – but on BimboTok you'll find a more inclusive bimbo community. “I joined bimbo TikTok on a mission to prove that someone like me – a queer Asian woman – can too become a hot and dumb bitch!” says goth bimbo MAE ULTRA. “I love the smooth-brained bliss and absurdity of it all. I simply woke up one morning with five brain cells left in my brain and an existential crisis and decided that’s what I wanted to become: HOT!”

Doing hot girl sh*t is part of what being a bimbo is all about. BimboTok’s beautiful, sparkly universe is a break from the chaos of the world right now. It’s bright pink, diamante encrusted escapism. But it goes beyond mere aesthetics. Being a bimbo today is about taking back control of an identity and living your own fantasy on your own terms. TikTok’s Gen Z bimbos are championing radical self-love and looking great while doing it. As Paris would say: “That’s hot.”