You‘ve basically already said it in better ways, but I truly think bimbo feminism, similar to girlboss feminism, is built on the idea that you can cheat the system (capitalist patriarchy) while operating within it/complying with it. Which is a fallacy to begin with.
'The System' has nothing to do with this - it's just plain old 'people making excuses for their immaturity'. Peter Pan syndrome for girls. They're spoiled and their parents should talk some sense into them.
Let's break this down because I fundamentally did not agree with anything you said:
“The bimbo feminists will pay for their crimes”
This title is supposed to what, hold hyper feminine women accountable for the crimes of men?
In the epilogue you introduce your intentions by saying “…I may get heated during this piece but i don’t intend to be cruel to anybody…”
Then quite literally a paragraph underneath it say, “my disdain for the bimbo feminists is so severe… I had an itch to write about them, to incise and drain their ideology like an infected wound, because that is what I believe them to be.”
You began this essay with biased and harmful beliefs that demean a group of women, granted not a popularized feminist group, but still women.
Are we not all fighting the same fight? That we deserve to be treated equally and respectfully; not deemed to be acceptable or appropriate by anyone but ourselves.. or does that only apply to women who reject femininity, break other women down or get ahead in a capitalist environment?
You then go on to say, “the twenty-first century bimbo (ignoring the ‘feminist’ aspect for now) is characterised by hyperfeminine qualities like platinum blonde or dyed pink hair, heavy makeup, and revealing clothing made with textures such as fur, latex and lace. behaviourally, she speaks with a slow, sultry drawl, and celebrates her sexuality. she is not modest or timid; she is shrill, she is fun, she’s so crazy you can’t take her anywhere. in many ways she is an evolution of the ‘dumb blonde’ trope for the internet age.” Do you not see harm in reducing these women into yet another demeaning stereotype? The ‘dumb blonde’ was a male originated idea to begin with, meant to portray blonde actresses in early Hollywood as nothing but sexual objects. And yet you, sit here doing the same, demeaning women who would proudly fight for your right to be able to freely tear them down on the internet..
Furthermore you say the bimbo feminist “…figure was populari[z]ed by social media creators like Chrissy chlapecka... supposedly reclaiming stereotypes of women as unintelligent, shallow and promiscuous…”
Chrissy herself has responded to claims like yours saying “blaming those who are feminine for the way men treat [them] is not feminism”…
I would just like to state here first and foremost, I have never seen a ‘bimbo feminist’ arguing that every woman should be like her, instead you see them repetitively arguing that people can be two things at once. Or are you suggesting that the only women educated enough to be a ‘true’ feminist also have to reduce their feminine qualities to be taken seriously?
Not even close to the end of this woman hating rant you released, you asked “at what point does harmless fun become infantilizing and regressive?” I think that was a valid question, with the obvious answer being as soon as someone like you reduces these women to being nothing more than male-hungry attention whores…
You then go on to quote from the ‘bimbo manifesto’ a post you, yourself say “nobody should have paid any mind [to] this as it’s creator was only nineteen..”
Are you really trying to suggest that all bimbo feminists are following the belief of a child creator? You are literally diminishing women who use their platform to stand for something, granted they chose to dress provocatively but I think it speaks more to your close-mindedness then their inability to “think about the implications of their behavior…”
You continue to say that “bimbos satisfy the male gaze- after all, a lot of them advocate for plastic surgery and other cosmetic procedures…subject[ing] themselves to injuries by walking around in stilettos, or push their breasts up so far they risk giving themselves a black eye. In more extreme and fetishistic cases they cite their aims to look like blow-up dolls… contributing to a culture of fetishization and condescension.” The judgement you speak with seeps of jealousy and anger about women comfortable enough in their skin to want to display hyper-feminism - it also comes off as though you belief the only reason a woman would dare to look nice or enjoy the way she dresses every day is so that a man might look her way…
In the most hateful paragraph you wrote you say, “i think the ‘neon pink label’ summarises the entire condition of the bimbo. there are very real and deeply insidious real-world factors at play that leave women feeling helpless over their self-image and hoping to regain some control in the eyes of the men who hate them. misogynistic violence is on the rise, especially in the uk, and the manosphere insists that all women are stupid and worthless anyway, so some of them are bound to internalise it.3 but if all this pain can be packaged in something so pretty, maybe it will hurt a little less.”
Is this in an effort to find someone to blame for the way we are stupid and worthless in men’s eyes, is this an attempt at slut-shaming women who are free with their bodies - by hinting that their clothes are asking for us to be belittled? I don’t understand your intention behind labeling the bimbo feminist as harmful to the feminist movement. I don’t understand where your hatred towards feminine women comes from, and if I am a little honest it sounds like the rant of a teenage tomboy not wanting to wear pink… (no judgement I’ve been there, too)
You also say “despite the bimbos attempting to convince the world their heads are full of cotton wool, we know that’s not the case.” Girl, if it is someone’s prerogative to make people think her head is full of wool, it is not your place to shame her for doing so. It’s not even your business actually, because nothing that any of these bimbos actually do is harmful towards other women. If you don’t like it, stop looking.
You continue with, “…but i really don’t see what’s so funny about women reinforcing the same misogynistic jokes that have been used to diminish us since what feels like the beginning of time. this becomes especially insidious when these jokes seep into real-world psychology, and people begin spending ridiculous amounts of money on products and services they can’t afford because that’s their entire scope of femininity.” Suggesting that the whole essence of a bimbo feminist is what? To act as an advertisement for other women to change their appearance? This completely rejects the notion that sometimes people are uncomfortable in their bodies, and they take it into their own hands to find that comfort, who are you to judge what they do to achieve that feeling? You keep going saying, “….and don’t get me started on the bioessentialists who claim to be entirely ruled by their menstrual cycle to such a ridiculous point that it’s fundamentally identical to ‘women are too hormonal to be trusted with any task that requires logical thinking.’” Do you not realize how far behind medical research is when it comes to the anatomy of a woman, let alone her menstral, really.. Do you really want to be included in a group of people demeaning woman’s pain? Just because your cycle doesn’t affect every part of your life doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect other women that way…
In your final paragraph, you state, “all in all, bimbo feminism is part of a much larger wave of anti-intellectualism and undisputed ignorance across the internet. not only does it tap in to the fetish market, it demands the celebration of objectification, which lines up hand in hand with the current wave of anti-feminist, regressive ‘tradwife’ content plaguing the internet. not only that, it correlates to the rise in less gender-specific waves such as the chatgpt boom that holds dire consequences for the future of the quality of education. there’s no doubt about it - people are getting stupid and they’re getting lazy. and maybe i’m too woke or take myself too seriously, but this is a trend i vow to never be part of.”
You make valid points about the bimbo feminism being apart of undisputed ignorance across the internet, unfortunately I think you found yourself on the ignorant side. This whole post was a hateful essay about a group of women you have deemed as willfully unintelligent or lesser than because of the way they chose to portray themselves. In actuality the problem is this type of harmful thinking; reducing women who enjoy feeling sexy while being education into idiotic sexbots.
Feminism is about fighting for women everywhere to have the same equal rights as men, including freedom of expression. This trend is not something you have to be apart of, or even respect out loud, but to be part of the haters is not a helpful criticism, it’s being apart of the problem. I responded to your post because I felt like it was a close-minded and judgmental point of view and the amount of positive responses you got were alarming.
How are do we expect anyone to respect us when we don’t respect each other?
I really disagree with this idea that women should not critisize other women. IMO, women are the ONLY ones who should be critiquing the behaviour of women. You have presented an infantilising view of women who have no ability to affect their lot beyond begging men to treat us as equals. Why the fuck would they we don't seem to believe ourselves to be equal??
And I thoroughly disagree that "nothing any of these bimbos do is harmful to other women". When you demean and debase yourself by embracing the caricature of the 'stupid woman' that has been used to keep us down throughout time, you demean and debase ALL of us, and I will not just - as you suggest - "stop looking".
Exactly, this whole essay read as “i’m insecure in my own identity/closeness to femininity that i want to rip apart the very thing i don’t understand” - very much the vibe of those edgelords
Thank you for your in depth comments it really articulated some of the thoughts I had while reading this article. I think that if we discredited things because they fall within the range of what is appealing to the male gaze, we quite literally would have nothing.
While I don’t fully agree with the essay,and you did make some valid points. I believe we need to stop infantilizing women. "Bimbo feminists" are real, intelligent, and capable individuals who are responsible for their actions. Moreover, we shouldn’t pretend that they exist in a vacuum; they operate within the context of the real world, where their actions contribute to and perpetuate the patriarchy, and that is an objective observable fact.
just need to say THANK YOU, this post made me feel so gross. I can’t say anything as eloquently as you did but the core idea itself that the author is just bashing and demeaning these women into 2-dimensional beings, and then blaming them for being too stereotypical when they’re literally not, they DO have their own brain and lives and opinions and you’re just throwing that all away and perceiving them as dumb YOURself. I feel like the post calls itself out when she mentions that men are going to look down on you no matter what when that’s literally what the author also does 😭😭 I hate hate hate that this pushes the idea that there’s a “perfect” way to be a feminist and a women, and that not fitting into that mold means you’re betraying feminism. It fucking sucks. You can never win. I thought the whole point of feminism was to break down this ideal that women are supposed to act in a perfect way. Sure, you don’t want them to cater to men, but you’ve just changed the rules and you expect them to base their entire personality and self-expression around whether it aligns with the “full feminist agenda”. Yknow how exhausting it is?? To feel like I have to make sure my every single move and expression and action is providing a good image on behalf of women and feminists? Why is my own personal image as a woman not acceptable? When tf did I become a poster boy for the communities I’m in?? You’re telling me I’m not a real feminist bc I don’t act the way you want me to? Because I don’t fit the specific image in your mind of what feminism looks like? It’s disgusting and exclusive and everything that feminism is AGAINST bc we should all be trying to support each other and learn about our different intersectional experiences of the world and the different ways we feel like expressing ourselves, not trying to fit us in a different cookie cutter box. I’m tired of hearing these perspectives and I’m tired of being excluded from a place that’s supposed to make me feel like I finally belong somewhere as a minority and I’m tired of having to be a perfect woman, in whatever form that is. I don’t even align myself with the ideals of “bimbo feminism”, but I can tell just from watching from the sidelines that I wouldn’t be included in wtv definition of feminism this author holds in her brain. I’m sorry that women exist and we have different ways of doing things and most importantly, I’m sorry that women might make mistakes sometimes in not proving feminism to be this perfect movement. I’m sorry we’re human. Ugh.
oh my god, yes! thank you for saying that, it's exactly what i thought while reading it. men already hate us, now we have women hating other women? it's gross and so uncalled for. especially the part where she slut-shamed women who are free with their bodies… it's upsetting that some women think that feminine women get all dressed and dolled up for the male gaze when that is the farthest from the truth. we don't care about men, we do it for ourselves. and yes, you can be super feminine, beautiful and still read complex books. this essay sounds a lot like jealousy...
the essay does not address hyperfeminine women, but the group of women who identify as bimbos and think they have no responsibility or effect on society whatsoever because 'they're just a girl'.
Thank you for this analysis. It’s extremely hurtful to see the feminist community segregate amongst itself. A “bimbo” is just another multidimensional woman. How a woman dresses is not an indicator of her worth or intellect? Is this not something we all believe? Who gets to decide what provocative means? Who says that dressing in mini skirts, bustiers and fur is for the male gaze? What about all the women at the slit walk? The bare chested women protesting in France? What nuance is grounds for belittlement? Smh. Style is an expression of self not a definition of self
I agree with lots of your points where others I don’t as much. Since these women are selling an idea of what a girl should look & act like, though not directly, it’s still feeding into the patriarchal idea that women are stupid and only good for sex, so in essence it’s harming the women who are trying to get education and break away from gender norms. I like these points of your side, such as the fact that being hyper feminine isn’t a bad thing, and one should not be criticised for it and also the fact that women should uplift each other.
right? i can be bubbly, hyper feminine, and love to shop *and* contribute to meaningful political discussions. the inter-fighting between different types of women is such a tired conversation. you CAN wear or do all of those things and be intellectual. the two aren’t mutually exclusive. if anything, her criticisms of this demographic further contribute to how people don’t take these types of women seriously. and the barbie comparisons are humorous, because barbie is exactly what she’s describing: a hyper feminine woman who is accomplished and intelligent. i understand her critiques of self-infantilizing behaviours, but that isn’t limited to “bimbo feminists,” i would argue this is observed across young people in the west. but that’s an entirely different discussion. i follow a lawyer who works with immigrants and she is ALWAYS decked out in pink and platinum blonde hair. she does amazing things for that community while looking good! this article reeks of a superiority complex.
Thank you so much i was reading this so confused and annoyed.
Trends like girl math and so, play with a stereotype that was used as a weapon upon us and use it as a way to escape it with satire. We could compare it to the way on how the use of queer has been diverted from its original sense. In other words “reversal of the stigma”(Ervin Goffman).
On top of that, the tone was full of an assumptive intellectual supperiority on the border of some class discrimination.
my brain implodes every time I hear girl math or I’m just a girl, why do we keep regressing to the idea that “women are stupid” or “women can’t do math” or women need to lie about their age
Reclaim neurodivergence? Then why aren’t they saying “autistic math”? Oh, wait,doing so would actually make the bigotry behind the sentiment way too obvious
I mean part of it is autistic people are stereotyped as good at math. Whereas I've heard (+ occasionally said) "ADHD math," quite a bit. Or "dyscalcula brain." Or "brain fog math."
Like, listen, as a person with a serious physical disability who is only just decent at math, it's actually not helpful that pretending every person (or, every woman) is equally inherently capable of learning to do anything.
I'm never going to be able to walk 200 feet unaided by a mobility device. It doesn't matter how much I practice or believe in myself or ignore the haters. It's just not going to happen.
Is acknowledging the reality of my weakness "unfeminist," just because I'm a woman while being weak?
I don't fit the bimbo aesthetic. But I don't really see self-described bimbos as doing anything much different than what I do, tho with a bigger audience. Ignore the arbitrary standards imposed on you by a capitalist / sexist / ableist / racist society. Instead, choose your own standards for yourself. Focus on your passions. Celebrate your successes by your own metric, and offer support to others dealing with the same shit, trying something new in the same way as you.
I graduated from college. That was an excruciating effort for me, one that landed me hospitalized twice. It took five years. My transcript had a lot of A's, one B, one C, two Fs, and eight W's.
For two years after graduation, I was virtually incapacitated. Frequent respiratory depression, often only waking for four hours per day. Turns out it was due to a drug interaction between a drug I was prescribed for a mental health issue I never had by a clueless "therapist" who saw me thrice after I had an alleged "mental breakdown" in class,presumably due to the stressful workload everyone else seemed to handle fine (fun fact, it was meningitis, a silly li'l 100% physical, non-mental illness, woops), and a drug for I was on a solid decade longer than I should have been because it was only designed for acute care...
Was it worth it?
Was going to college and getting a BA, proving wrong the "haters" who thought I was too stupid or crippled to do it...worth it?
I can't really say yes with confidence, no.
I have met women who found getting all As in high school easy. They went to selective colleges. Still got all As. Pushed themselves physically in Varsity sports. Still got all As.
Going to college was the right choice for them.
But college, regular non-competitive state University, nearly killed me. Objectively, I would have far better physical and mental health today if I'd never attended. Given my line of work, I'd probably be making more money as well, since I would have been able to start earlier, and on better footing.
Being smarter is rewarded in society. Being stronger and faster is rewarded.
But a feminism solely for the strongest, smartest, swiftist women leaves a helluva lot of people out. It's so damn clear I don't belong in those feminist spaces. Nothing I have to offer has value to anyone there.
Yet, I do have a lot of insights into how we might differently strategize to solve political problems of misogyny and bigotry.
So why not align myself with other women -- other feminists -- who have made the same choice I have. To reject society's wholesale content for weakness, "stupidness," and humans whose limited utility to the economic machine renders us disposable.
I am not a bimbo. But the bimbos and I share a deep alignment in rejection of the unilateral value of intelligence, economic success, and physical strength. Instead, embracing a plurality of values, celebrating those differences, and creating a new, sustainable future based not on dependence on a single individual man, but interdependence on one another. Seeing our full humanity, strengths and weaknesses and divergent desires alike.
I think a lot of the bimbo aesthetic can (if it doesn’t outright) fall into this infantile language which is dangerous and so if neurodivergence is infantilised further (as it is often already), that can be harmful to neurodivergent people.
I totally agree, the 2016 film, "Hidden Figures," tells the story of the unsung female mathematicians, engineers, and managers that got NASA to the Moon.
I definitely agree that the anti-intellectual aspect of "Bimbo feminism" has gotten out of hand. And the idea of "opting out" of capitalism by wielding the one (finicky and temporary) weapon patriarchy has allowed (a very slim subset of) women [ie: the thin, white, young and traditionally attractive ones] also has some obvious and problematic setbacks to it.
But that being said: I also think you don't give enough (or any) credit to the cool things bimbo feminism has done. I think there are ways to reclaim certain elements of femininity in a legitimately empowering way. I think subverting expectations of femininity is, in general, a good thing. I think teaching people not to judge women for how they dress goes in all directions. That there are still a lot of men AND women judge women for how they dress. I think women openly expressing sexuality and not feeling judged for getting plastic surgery are both very good things too. I'd even argue that giving women a version of feminism that isn't, like, theory based is helpful for spreading women's liberation to less educated and lower-income women. While I understand that some of these ideas have been misunderstood, or and at times even co-opted by patriarchy- I still see most of these things as general net-positives for the feminist movement.
honestly, even if we disagree on some points i really respect your opinion and i especially respect you putting it forth in a clear, insìghtful and respectful way. and you make some good points about making feminism more accessible and widespread!
Lowkey, you would get a lot more about this trend of feminism by looking at activists, sex workers, poets and cool queer girls in their mid 20's and early 30's rather than a misinformed19 year-old's notes app post. Like I can admit this aesthetic can easily be misinterpreted, but there are a lot of us who wear it with thoughtful intention too. And ultimately, I think we all just have different relationships to hyper-feminine aesthetics.
Yes this is the comment I was looking for. This aesthetic is a protective shield for women who are extremely empathic and sensitive. It’s reclaiming the manicpixie dream girl, but with awareness. people can’t pray on your vulnerability if you are vocal about them.
It also is a trauma response to societal pressures and it’s a movement that aims to heal the inner in little girl in all women. 19-year-olds don’t have enough experience to represent what this trend of feminism really means.
I'm confused why anyone thought it was a "theory or manifesto", it seems obviously satirical and ironic to me. I am not aware of the context or history though
The several lines about how this must be wrong in part because men will "enjoy"/"benefit" from bimbo-ism by either having their fantasies fufilled or having their stereotypes proven right don't seem quite right. The same is/was frequently said about loads of hip-hop/rap and surely that isn't a reason for people to stop enjoying/making things that feel true to them. If anything, there's loads of literature talking about why black artists should lean into some of these "stereotypes", why black nihilism/a "commitment to other-ness" might be a good tool in art and self expression; and it seems to me that the bimbo-ism has attempted to do something similar? And then, at some point, speculating about people's intentions in aligning themselves with these "stereotypes" and doing that speculation through the lens of what the oppressor "wins" might just center the oppressor over the oppressed..? Not sure
You mention platinum blonde hair as a hyperfeminine quality, but I must now point out that it is even more a *childlike* quality--some white children have platinum blond(e) hair naturally, but almost all of those children's hair will darken to a deeper blond(e) or brown in adolescence. An adult white woman with bleached platinum blonde hair is symbolically undoing part of her own puberty, and infantilism is definitely a part of the bimbo formula. And while most ideas of "himbos" portray a more adult kind of stupidity, there is a strain of the twink archetype in gay male circles that has a very similar childlike valence, the simultaneously feminized, stupefied, and infantilized "boi" who also often has bleached blond hair (and whose anus is often called a "boipussy", just to make it even more gross).
(Also why the fuck is this word, *and this word in particular* still gendered in English? Has some academic written a paper about that, because I would like to read it.)
I also find it really concerning how Substack's social dynamics seem to be providing a vector for truly rank misogyny normally associated with the far right to infiltrate leftist discourse through vulgar Marxists complaining about the longhouse and "millennial snot" (I am so sick of that stupid fucking article, I blocked the author and it still comes up again and again through people restacking it) and the like, and of course the reactionary side of Substack is taking the opportunity to gradually brownpill some of them on other issues like immigration, race, eugenics, etc.
The person who in my opinion essentially created Bimbo Feminism, Chrissy Chlapecka, has recently come out as a lesbian, which to me (also a lesbian) is a shocking but not really shocking turn of events. Shocking in that so much of bimboism caters to the male gaze - stupid, childlike, blonde, skinny fuck dolls - but also not really surprising in how much patriarchy is shoved down our throats and how comphet factors into that. I certainly had a time before I realized I was a lesbian where I really played into societal standards - blonde, thin, focusing a lot of attention onto dating men - because I wanted to be “normal” (loaded statement, I know). It’s just crazy to me how blown out of proportion it seemed to get for Chrissy. Of course I’m not saying all of bimbo feminism was built out of comphet cope - but the connections are there!
tbh feminism is not about supporting all women, women can make mistakes and act stupidly and if youre a woman and you are making a huge mistake such as expanding this bimbo tradwife ideology you should be held accountable
this is my issue with “choice feminism” aka women thinking that anything they do is a feminist act just bc it was done by a women. Some things are just inherently anti-feminist and anti-woman, and women who are aware of the contradiction between their feminist thoughts and their anti-feminist actions have to justify it to themselves somehow.
exactly and choice feminism completely neglects intersectionality as well. not all women have choices in the first place, that mostly privileged choice feminists choose and claim to be empowering 😬 there’s a reason why choice/liberal/yt feminism is all the same.
i agree and also, when people (always been white women in my experience) use this argument to say that women should be punished or persecuted for wearing the hijab or the veil… that makes me so angry. culture is extremely complicated. the hijab is also extremely complicated.
that made me SO uncomfortable that I legitimately couldn’t read on. the author says “no derogatory comments” and then straight up calls women she disagrees with “infected wounds”. like….. sorry, what?
I loved this peice. It was thought provoking and I'm jealous I didn't think of these parallels first 😆. I especially appreciated the citations and reference links too 😊.
I am now convinced bimbo-ism is nihilism (it is painfully obvious after reading this article). Sadly I did not stop to look deeper at bimoification earlier as I follow several bimbo accounts on Instagram - but that certainly helped with seeing parallels and exercising your points so I could see them for myself 🙂
I wondered if bimoification is also an attempt at "reclaiming" that which men use against us? But as you have so wonderfully penned, why - on second thought - would we want to claim misogyny? 😝
The bimboism as a nihilism is a terrific connection !! I can’t help but notice that all this comes about in 2021 after the murder of George Floyd and the 2020 American election
Thank you for thisssss I have hated the “bimbo” resurgence since I first encountered it and I feel like it’s really helped to usher in an evil era on social media that we’re currently experiencing , like “I’m just a girl” and the relentless hyper fixation on appearance. Goes hand in hand with the rise of anti intellectualism and misinformation I think, both online and in politics, and I’d go as far to say it’s connected to the rise of fascism in the US as well, since fascism sees the body as an extension of the state and women’s bodies have been increasingly targeted by abortion bans
what’s crazy to me about it is that it’s literally just a kink to most ppl, but it somehow made it out of kink spaces and they feel the need to normalize it to a general audience? where young women and girls are watching?
I just wrote about how I don’t like the feeling after. I think that’s what “I’m just a girl” embodies. avoiding the serious feelings & dumbing yourself down because it’s a lot easier than “facing it like a man.” which is also wrong in its own way. it’s all avoidance. it’s all very sad. personally, I think we should stop gendering feelings. also, fuck nihilism.
The "i'm just a girl" rhetoric is frankly embarassing. I think capitalism has also contributed to turning feminism circular... modern overstimulation has caused women to self-infantilise as a form of relief. Grown women refusing their own autonomy, and then claiming to exercise it in doing so? Come on. Be a better person.
Also I hate that within girlboss feminism it is impossible to critique other women without it being implied you hold internalised misogyny, or jealousy, or are trying to appeal to men by bringing other women down. The system we are operating in is flawed!
You‘ve basically already said it in better ways, but I truly think bimbo feminism, similar to girlboss feminism, is built on the idea that you can cheat the system (capitalist patriarchy) while operating within it/complying with it. Which is a fallacy to begin with.
"master's tools"
What a strange, strange framing.
'The System' has nothing to do with this - it's just plain old 'people making excuses for their immaturity'. Peter Pan syndrome for girls. They're spoiled and their parents should talk some sense into them.
Let's break this down because I fundamentally did not agree with anything you said:
“The bimbo feminists will pay for their crimes”
This title is supposed to what, hold hyper feminine women accountable for the crimes of men?
In the epilogue you introduce your intentions by saying “…I may get heated during this piece but i don’t intend to be cruel to anybody…”
Then quite literally a paragraph underneath it say, “my disdain for the bimbo feminists is so severe… I had an itch to write about them, to incise and drain their ideology like an infected wound, because that is what I believe them to be.”
You began this essay with biased and harmful beliefs that demean a group of women, granted not a popularized feminist group, but still women.
Are we not all fighting the same fight? That we deserve to be treated equally and respectfully; not deemed to be acceptable or appropriate by anyone but ourselves.. or does that only apply to women who reject femininity, break other women down or get ahead in a capitalist environment?
You then go on to say, “the twenty-first century bimbo (ignoring the ‘feminist’ aspect for now) is characterised by hyperfeminine qualities like platinum blonde or dyed pink hair, heavy makeup, and revealing clothing made with textures such as fur, latex and lace. behaviourally, she speaks with a slow, sultry drawl, and celebrates her sexuality. she is not modest or timid; she is shrill, she is fun, she’s so crazy you can’t take her anywhere. in many ways she is an evolution of the ‘dumb blonde’ trope for the internet age.” Do you not see harm in reducing these women into yet another demeaning stereotype? The ‘dumb blonde’ was a male originated idea to begin with, meant to portray blonde actresses in early Hollywood as nothing but sexual objects. And yet you, sit here doing the same, demeaning women who would proudly fight for your right to be able to freely tear them down on the internet..
Furthermore you say the bimbo feminist “…figure was populari[z]ed by social media creators like Chrissy chlapecka... supposedly reclaiming stereotypes of women as unintelligent, shallow and promiscuous…”
Chrissy herself has responded to claims like yours saying “blaming those who are feminine for the way men treat [them] is not feminism”…
I would just like to state here first and foremost, I have never seen a ‘bimbo feminist’ arguing that every woman should be like her, instead you see them repetitively arguing that people can be two things at once. Or are you suggesting that the only women educated enough to be a ‘true’ feminist also have to reduce their feminine qualities to be taken seriously?
Not even close to the end of this woman hating rant you released, you asked “at what point does harmless fun become infantilizing and regressive?” I think that was a valid question, with the obvious answer being as soon as someone like you reduces these women to being nothing more than male-hungry attention whores…
You then go on to quote from the ‘bimbo manifesto’ a post you, yourself say “nobody should have paid any mind [to] this as it’s creator was only nineteen..”
Are you really trying to suggest that all bimbo feminists are following the belief of a child creator? You are literally diminishing women who use their platform to stand for something, granted they chose to dress provocatively but I think it speaks more to your close-mindedness then their inability to “think about the implications of their behavior…”
You continue to say that “bimbos satisfy the male gaze- after all, a lot of them advocate for plastic surgery and other cosmetic procedures…subject[ing] themselves to injuries by walking around in stilettos, or push their breasts up so far they risk giving themselves a black eye. In more extreme and fetishistic cases they cite their aims to look like blow-up dolls… contributing to a culture of fetishization and condescension.” The judgement you speak with seeps of jealousy and anger about women comfortable enough in their skin to want to display hyper-feminism - it also comes off as though you belief the only reason a woman would dare to look nice or enjoy the way she dresses every day is so that a man might look her way…
In the most hateful paragraph you wrote you say, “i think the ‘neon pink label’ summarises the entire condition of the bimbo. there are very real and deeply insidious real-world factors at play that leave women feeling helpless over their self-image and hoping to regain some control in the eyes of the men who hate them. misogynistic violence is on the rise, especially in the uk, and the manosphere insists that all women are stupid and worthless anyway, so some of them are bound to internalise it.3 but if all this pain can be packaged in something so pretty, maybe it will hurt a little less.”
Is this in an effort to find someone to blame for the way we are stupid and worthless in men’s eyes, is this an attempt at slut-shaming women who are free with their bodies - by hinting that their clothes are asking for us to be belittled? I don’t understand your intention behind labeling the bimbo feminist as harmful to the feminist movement. I don’t understand where your hatred towards feminine women comes from, and if I am a little honest it sounds like the rant of a teenage tomboy not wanting to wear pink… (no judgement I’ve been there, too)
You also say “despite the bimbos attempting to convince the world their heads are full of cotton wool, we know that’s not the case.” Girl, if it is someone’s prerogative to make people think her head is full of wool, it is not your place to shame her for doing so. It’s not even your business actually, because nothing that any of these bimbos actually do is harmful towards other women. If you don’t like it, stop looking.
You continue with, “…but i really don’t see what’s so funny about women reinforcing the same misogynistic jokes that have been used to diminish us since what feels like the beginning of time. this becomes especially insidious when these jokes seep into real-world psychology, and people begin spending ridiculous amounts of money on products and services they can’t afford because that’s their entire scope of femininity.” Suggesting that the whole essence of a bimbo feminist is what? To act as an advertisement for other women to change their appearance? This completely rejects the notion that sometimes people are uncomfortable in their bodies, and they take it into their own hands to find that comfort, who are you to judge what they do to achieve that feeling? You keep going saying, “….and don’t get me started on the bioessentialists who claim to be entirely ruled by their menstrual cycle to such a ridiculous point that it’s fundamentally identical to ‘women are too hormonal to be trusted with any task that requires logical thinking.’” Do you not realize how far behind medical research is when it comes to the anatomy of a woman, let alone her menstral, really.. Do you really want to be included in a group of people demeaning woman’s pain? Just because your cycle doesn’t affect every part of your life doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect other women that way…
In your final paragraph, you state, “all in all, bimbo feminism is part of a much larger wave of anti-intellectualism and undisputed ignorance across the internet. not only does it tap in to the fetish market, it demands the celebration of objectification, which lines up hand in hand with the current wave of anti-feminist, regressive ‘tradwife’ content plaguing the internet. not only that, it correlates to the rise in less gender-specific waves such as the chatgpt boom that holds dire consequences for the future of the quality of education. there’s no doubt about it - people are getting stupid and they’re getting lazy. and maybe i’m too woke or take myself too seriously, but this is a trend i vow to never be part of.”
You make valid points about the bimbo feminism being apart of undisputed ignorance across the internet, unfortunately I think you found yourself on the ignorant side. This whole post was a hateful essay about a group of women you have deemed as willfully unintelligent or lesser than because of the way they chose to portray themselves. In actuality the problem is this type of harmful thinking; reducing women who enjoy feeling sexy while being education into idiotic sexbots.
Feminism is about fighting for women everywhere to have the same equal rights as men, including freedom of expression. This trend is not something you have to be apart of, or even respect out loud, but to be part of the haters is not a helpful criticism, it’s being apart of the problem. I responded to your post because I felt like it was a close-minded and judgmental point of view and the amount of positive responses you got were alarming.
How are do we expect anyone to respect us when we don’t respect each other?
I really disagree with this idea that women should not critisize other women. IMO, women are the ONLY ones who should be critiquing the behaviour of women. You have presented an infantilising view of women who have no ability to affect their lot beyond begging men to treat us as equals. Why the fuck would they we don't seem to believe ourselves to be equal??
And I thoroughly disagree that "nothing any of these bimbos do is harmful to other women". When you demean and debase yourself by embracing the caricature of the 'stupid woman' that has been used to keep us down throughout time, you demean and debase ALL of us, and I will not just - as you suggest - "stop looking".
No, like im surprised to see so many girls in the comments eating this up like….. This reminded me of them red pill boys rants…
Exactly, this whole essay read as “i’m insecure in my own identity/closeness to femininity that i want to rip apart the very thing i don’t understand” - very much the vibe of those edgelords
Thank you for your in depth comments it really articulated some of the thoughts I had while reading this article. I think that if we discredited things because they fall within the range of what is appealing to the male gaze, we quite literally would have nothing.
100% I’m glad I wasn’t alone in that thinking, so many of the responses were just blindly agreeing.
While I don’t fully agree with the essay,and you did make some valid points. I believe we need to stop infantilizing women. "Bimbo feminists" are real, intelligent, and capable individuals who are responsible for their actions. Moreover, we shouldn’t pretend that they exist in a vacuum; they operate within the context of the real world, where their actions contribute to and perpetuate the patriarchy, and that is an objective observable fact.
just need to say THANK YOU, this post made me feel so gross. I can’t say anything as eloquently as you did but the core idea itself that the author is just bashing and demeaning these women into 2-dimensional beings, and then blaming them for being too stereotypical when they’re literally not, they DO have their own brain and lives and opinions and you’re just throwing that all away and perceiving them as dumb YOURself. I feel like the post calls itself out when she mentions that men are going to look down on you no matter what when that’s literally what the author also does 😭😭 I hate hate hate that this pushes the idea that there’s a “perfect” way to be a feminist and a women, and that not fitting into that mold means you’re betraying feminism. It fucking sucks. You can never win. I thought the whole point of feminism was to break down this ideal that women are supposed to act in a perfect way. Sure, you don’t want them to cater to men, but you’ve just changed the rules and you expect them to base their entire personality and self-expression around whether it aligns with the “full feminist agenda”. Yknow how exhausting it is?? To feel like I have to make sure my every single move and expression and action is providing a good image on behalf of women and feminists? Why is my own personal image as a woman not acceptable? When tf did I become a poster boy for the communities I’m in?? You’re telling me I’m not a real feminist bc I don’t act the way you want me to? Because I don’t fit the specific image in your mind of what feminism looks like? It’s disgusting and exclusive and everything that feminism is AGAINST bc we should all be trying to support each other and learn about our different intersectional experiences of the world and the different ways we feel like expressing ourselves, not trying to fit us in a different cookie cutter box. I’m tired of hearing these perspectives and I’m tired of being excluded from a place that’s supposed to make me feel like I finally belong somewhere as a minority and I’m tired of having to be a perfect woman, in whatever form that is. I don’t even align myself with the ideals of “bimbo feminism”, but I can tell just from watching from the sidelines that I wouldn’t be included in wtv definition of feminism this author holds in her brain. I’m sorry that women exist and we have different ways of doing things and most importantly, I’m sorry that women might make mistakes sometimes in not proving feminism to be this perfect movement. I’m sorry we’re human. Ugh.
oh my god, yes! thank you for saying that, it's exactly what i thought while reading it. men already hate us, now we have women hating other women? it's gross and so uncalled for. especially the part where she slut-shamed women who are free with their bodies… it's upsetting that some women think that feminine women get all dressed and dolled up for the male gaze when that is the farthest from the truth. we don't care about men, we do it for ourselves. and yes, you can be super feminine, beautiful and still read complex books. this essay sounds a lot like jealousy...
the essay does not address hyperfeminine women, but the group of women who identify as bimbos and think they have no responsibility or effect on society whatsoever because 'they're just a girl'.
sorry couldn’t get past the third paragraph where you called the foreword/disclaimer an “epilogue,” proving the author’s point of a need for education
Insanely incorrect and ignorant comment. Love to see it
Thank you for this analysis. It’s extremely hurtful to see the feminist community segregate amongst itself. A “bimbo” is just another multidimensional woman. How a woman dresses is not an indicator of her worth or intellect? Is this not something we all believe? Who gets to decide what provocative means? Who says that dressing in mini skirts, bustiers and fur is for the male gaze? What about all the women at the slit walk? The bare chested women protesting in France? What nuance is grounds for belittlement? Smh. Style is an expression of self not a definition of self
thank you for this! this essay is genuinely terrible, I love how you broke it apart so easily.
I agree with lots of your points where others I don’t as much. Since these women are selling an idea of what a girl should look & act like, though not directly, it’s still feeding into the patriarchal idea that women are stupid and only good for sex, so in essence it’s harming the women who are trying to get education and break away from gender norms. I like these points of your side, such as the fact that being hyper feminine isn’t a bad thing, and one should not be criticised for it and also the fact that women should uplift each other.
right? i can be bubbly, hyper feminine, and love to shop *and* contribute to meaningful political discussions. the inter-fighting between different types of women is such a tired conversation. you CAN wear or do all of those things and be intellectual. the two aren’t mutually exclusive. if anything, her criticisms of this demographic further contribute to how people don’t take these types of women seriously. and the barbie comparisons are humorous, because barbie is exactly what she’s describing: a hyper feminine woman who is accomplished and intelligent. i understand her critiques of self-infantilizing behaviours, but that isn’t limited to “bimbo feminists,” i would argue this is observed across young people in the west. but that’s an entirely different discussion. i follow a lawyer who works with immigrants and she is ALWAYS decked out in pink and platinum blonde hair. she does amazing things for that community while looking good! this article reeks of a superiority complex.
Thank you so much i was reading this so confused and annoyed.
Trends like girl math and so, play with a stereotype that was used as a weapon upon us and use it as a way to escape it with satire. We could compare it to the way on how the use of queer has been diverted from its original sense. In other words “reversal of the stigma”(Ervin Goffman).
On top of that, the tone was full of an assumptive intellectual supperiority on the border of some class discrimination.
Probably the title is hyperbole to attract engagement.
my brain implodes every time I hear girl math or I’m just a girl, why do we keep regressing to the idea that “women are stupid” or “women can’t do math” or women need to lie about their age
To be fair, a lot of that may be an attempt to reclaim neurodivergence. I’ve seen a lot of ADHD/bipolar/BPD positivity in the “bimbo” aesthetic
Reclaim neurodivergence? Then why aren’t they saying “autistic math”? Oh, wait,doing so would actually make the bigotry behind the sentiment way too obvious
I mean part of it is autistic people are stereotyped as good at math. Whereas I've heard (+ occasionally said) "ADHD math," quite a bit. Or "dyscalcula brain." Or "brain fog math."
Like, listen, as a person with a serious physical disability who is only just decent at math, it's actually not helpful that pretending every person (or, every woman) is equally inherently capable of learning to do anything.
I'm never going to be able to walk 200 feet unaided by a mobility device. It doesn't matter how much I practice or believe in myself or ignore the haters. It's just not going to happen.
Is acknowledging the reality of my weakness "unfeminist," just because I'm a woman while being weak?
I don't fit the bimbo aesthetic. But I don't really see self-described bimbos as doing anything much different than what I do, tho with a bigger audience. Ignore the arbitrary standards imposed on you by a capitalist / sexist / ableist / racist society. Instead, choose your own standards for yourself. Focus on your passions. Celebrate your successes by your own metric, and offer support to others dealing with the same shit, trying something new in the same way as you.
I graduated from college. That was an excruciating effort for me, one that landed me hospitalized twice. It took five years. My transcript had a lot of A's, one B, one C, two Fs, and eight W's.
For two years after graduation, I was virtually incapacitated. Frequent respiratory depression, often only waking for four hours per day. Turns out it was due to a drug interaction between a drug I was prescribed for a mental health issue I never had by a clueless "therapist" who saw me thrice after I had an alleged "mental breakdown" in class,presumably due to the stressful workload everyone else seemed to handle fine (fun fact, it was meningitis, a silly li'l 100% physical, non-mental illness, woops), and a drug for I was on a solid decade longer than I should have been because it was only designed for acute care...
Was it worth it?
Was going to college and getting a BA, proving wrong the "haters" who thought I was too stupid or crippled to do it...worth it?
I can't really say yes with confidence, no.
I have met women who found getting all As in high school easy. They went to selective colleges. Still got all As. Pushed themselves physically in Varsity sports. Still got all As.
Going to college was the right choice for them.
But college, regular non-competitive state University, nearly killed me. Objectively, I would have far better physical and mental health today if I'd never attended. Given my line of work, I'd probably be making more money as well, since I would have been able to start earlier, and on better footing.
Being smarter is rewarded in society. Being stronger and faster is rewarded.
But a feminism solely for the strongest, smartest, swiftist women leaves a helluva lot of people out. It's so damn clear I don't belong in those feminist spaces. Nothing I have to offer has value to anyone there.
Yet, I do have a lot of insights into how we might differently strategize to solve political problems of misogyny and bigotry.
So why not align myself with other women -- other feminists -- who have made the same choice I have. To reject society's wholesale content for weakness, "stupidness," and humans whose limited utility to the economic machine renders us disposable.
I am not a bimbo. But the bimbos and I share a deep alignment in rejection of the unilateral value of intelligence, economic success, and physical strength. Instead, embracing a plurality of values, celebrating those differences, and creating a new, sustainable future based not on dependence on a single individual man, but interdependence on one another. Seeing our full humanity, strengths and weaknesses and divergent desires alike.
But I feel like that’s quite individual??
It is, but I also think the bimbo aesthetic is inherently individualistic
I think a lot of the bimbo aesthetic can (if it doesn’t outright) fall into this infantile language which is dangerous and so if neurodivergence is infantilised further (as it is often already), that can be harmful to neurodivergent people.
Oh absolutely. That’s an excellent point
Have your cake and eat it.
I totally agree, the 2016 film, "Hidden Figures," tells the story of the unsung female mathematicians, engineers, and managers that got NASA to the Moon.
It was fashionable in the 90s for men to be stupid, JackAss and so called "mooks and midriffs" was all the rage.
I definitely agree that the anti-intellectual aspect of "Bimbo feminism" has gotten out of hand. And the idea of "opting out" of capitalism by wielding the one (finicky and temporary) weapon patriarchy has allowed (a very slim subset of) women [ie: the thin, white, young and traditionally attractive ones] also has some obvious and problematic setbacks to it.
But that being said: I also think you don't give enough (or any) credit to the cool things bimbo feminism has done. I think there are ways to reclaim certain elements of femininity in a legitimately empowering way. I think subverting expectations of femininity is, in general, a good thing. I think teaching people not to judge women for how they dress goes in all directions. That there are still a lot of men AND women judge women for how they dress. I think women openly expressing sexuality and not feeling judged for getting plastic surgery are both very good things too. I'd even argue that giving women a version of feminism that isn't, like, theory based is helpful for spreading women's liberation to less educated and lower-income women. While I understand that some of these ideas have been misunderstood, or and at times even co-opted by patriarchy- I still see most of these things as general net-positives for the feminist movement.
honestly, even if we disagree on some points i really respect your opinion and i especially respect you putting it forth in a clear, insìghtful and respectful way. and you make some good points about making feminism more accessible and widespread!
Lowkey, you would get a lot more about this trend of feminism by looking at activists, sex workers, poets and cool queer girls in their mid 20's and early 30's rather than a misinformed19 year-old's notes app post. Like I can admit this aesthetic can easily be misinterpreted, but there are a lot of us who wear it with thoughtful intention too. And ultimately, I think we all just have different relationships to hyper-feminine aesthetics.
Yeah I keep thinking about how many hyper-feminine women are not even attracted to men, so any male-centric argument is really pointless
Yes this is the comment I was looking for. This aesthetic is a protective shield for women who are extremely empathic and sensitive. It’s reclaiming the manicpixie dream girl, but with awareness. people can’t pray on your vulnerability if you are vocal about them.
It also is a trauma response to societal pressures and it’s a movement that aims to heal the inner in little girl in all women. 19-year-olds don’t have enough experience to represent what this trend of feminism really means.
Great piece that reminds us all of two very important things:
1. All feminism should be intersectional and based in reading and praxis
2. Not every 19 year old with a theory/manifesto is a wunderkind
I'm confused why anyone thought it was a "theory or manifesto", it seems obviously satirical and ironic to me. I am not aware of the context or history though
The several lines about how this must be wrong in part because men will "enjoy"/"benefit" from bimbo-ism by either having their fantasies fufilled or having their stereotypes proven right don't seem quite right. The same is/was frequently said about loads of hip-hop/rap and surely that isn't a reason for people to stop enjoying/making things that feel true to them. If anything, there's loads of literature talking about why black artists should lean into some of these "stereotypes", why black nihilism/a "commitment to other-ness" might be a good tool in art and self expression; and it seems to me that the bimbo-ism has attempted to do something similar? And then, at some point, speculating about people's intentions in aligning themselves with these "stereotypes" and doing that speculation through the lens of what the oppressor "wins" might just center the oppressor over the oppressed..? Not sure
couldn’t have worded it any better
You mention platinum blonde hair as a hyperfeminine quality, but I must now point out that it is even more a *childlike* quality--some white children have platinum blond(e) hair naturally, but almost all of those children's hair will darken to a deeper blond(e) or brown in adolescence. An adult white woman with bleached platinum blonde hair is symbolically undoing part of her own puberty, and infantilism is definitely a part of the bimbo formula. And while most ideas of "himbos" portray a more adult kind of stupidity, there is a strain of the twink archetype in gay male circles that has a very similar childlike valence, the simultaneously feminized, stupefied, and infantilized "boi" who also often has bleached blond hair (and whose anus is often called a "boipussy", just to make it even more gross).
(Also why the fuck is this word, *and this word in particular* still gendered in English? Has some academic written a paper about that, because I would like to read it.)
I also find it really concerning how Substack's social dynamics seem to be providing a vector for truly rank misogyny normally associated with the far right to infiltrate leftist discourse through vulgar Marxists complaining about the longhouse and "millennial snot" (I am so sick of that stupid fucking article, I blocked the author and it still comes up again and again through people restacking it) and the like, and of course the reactionary side of Substack is taking the opportunity to gradually brownpill some of them on other issues like immigration, race, eugenics, etc.
The person who in my opinion essentially created Bimbo Feminism, Chrissy Chlapecka, has recently come out as a lesbian, which to me (also a lesbian) is a shocking but not really shocking turn of events. Shocking in that so much of bimboism caters to the male gaze - stupid, childlike, blonde, skinny fuck dolls - but also not really surprising in how much patriarchy is shoved down our throats and how comphet factors into that. I certainly had a time before I realized I was a lesbian where I really played into societal standards - blonde, thin, focusing a lot of attention onto dating men - because I wanted to be “normal” (loaded statement, I know). It’s just crazy to me how blown out of proportion it seemed to get for Chrissy. Of course I’m not saying all of bimbo feminism was built out of comphet cope - but the connections are there!
I found “stop observing and perceiving” particularly disturbing.
tbh feminism is not about supporting all women, women can make mistakes and act stupidly and if youre a woman and you are making a huge mistake such as expanding this bimbo tradwife ideology you should be held accountable
this is my issue with “choice feminism” aka women thinking that anything they do is a feminist act just bc it was done by a women. Some things are just inherently anti-feminist and anti-woman, and women who are aware of the contradiction between their feminist thoughts and their anti-feminist actions have to justify it to themselves somehow.
exactly and choice feminism completely neglects intersectionality as well. not all women have choices in the first place, that mostly privileged choice feminists choose and claim to be empowering 😬 there’s a reason why choice/liberal/yt feminism is all the same.
i agree and also, when people (always been white women in my experience) use this argument to say that women should be punished or persecuted for wearing the hijab or the veil… that makes me so angry. culture is extremely complicated. the hijab is also extremely complicated.
strange to preface a tone this polemic with the denouncement of interpersonal cruelty
that made me SO uncomfortable that I legitimately couldn’t read on. the author says “no derogatory comments” and then straight up calls women she disagrees with “infected wounds”. like….. sorry, what?
I loved this peice. It was thought provoking and I'm jealous I didn't think of these parallels first 😆. I especially appreciated the citations and reference links too 😊.
I am now convinced bimbo-ism is nihilism (it is painfully obvious after reading this article). Sadly I did not stop to look deeper at bimoification earlier as I follow several bimbo accounts on Instagram - but that certainly helped with seeing parallels and exercising your points so I could see them for myself 🙂
I wondered if bimoification is also an attempt at "reclaiming" that which men use against us? But as you have so wonderfully penned, why - on second thought - would we want to claim misogyny? 😝
Thank you, and newly subscribed ✨️
The bimboism as a nihilism is a terrific connection !! I can’t help but notice that all this comes about in 2021 after the murder of George Floyd and the 2020 American election
It may also come from the 90s/Y2K nostalgia resurgence, which was a lot more slut shamey back then
Thank you for thisssss I have hated the “bimbo” resurgence since I first encountered it and I feel like it’s really helped to usher in an evil era on social media that we’re currently experiencing , like “I’m just a girl” and the relentless hyper fixation on appearance. Goes hand in hand with the rise of anti intellectualism and misinformation I think, both online and in politics, and I’d go as far to say it’s connected to the rise of fascism in the US as well, since fascism sees the body as an extension of the state and women’s bodies have been increasingly targeted by abortion bans
what’s crazy to me about it is that it’s literally just a kink to most ppl, but it somehow made it out of kink spaces and they feel the need to normalize it to a general audience? where young women and girls are watching?
I just wrote about how I don’t like the feeling after. I think that’s what “I’m just a girl” embodies. avoiding the serious feelings & dumbing yourself down because it’s a lot easier than “facing it like a man.” which is also wrong in its own way. it’s all avoidance. it’s all very sad. personally, I think we should stop gendering feelings. also, fuck nihilism.
The "i'm just a girl" rhetoric is frankly embarassing. I think capitalism has also contributed to turning feminism circular... modern overstimulation has caused women to self-infantilise as a form of relief. Grown women refusing their own autonomy, and then claiming to exercise it in doing so? Come on. Be a better person.
Also I hate that within girlboss feminism it is impossible to critique other women without it being implied you hold internalised misogyny, or jealousy, or are trying to appeal to men by bringing other women down. The system we are operating in is flawed!