Gaslight, Gateway, Girlboss: The Empowering Possibilities of Bimbo Feminism

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a new trend arose from the social media platform TikTok called Bimbo Feminism. Bimbo Feminism is marked by an authentic embrace of femininity and the democratization of knowledge through generational slang. Through the explanation and analysis of Bimbo Feminism’s three spearheads, Chrissy Chlapecka, Nikita Redkar, and Scene Queen, this thesis defines Bimbo Feminism and explains its possibilities as a gateway feminism. Through its position on TikTok, Bimbo Feminism is able to bring new people into the world of activism. However, Bimbo Feminism must address its internal issues before it can be used as a catalyst for growth, including a lack of diverging identities and acknowledgement of its intellectual ancestors. Bimbo Feminism has the potential to be a powerful reclamation and reimagining of hyper-femininity without the constraint of patriarchal expectations