Is Your Boyfriend Actually a Feminist

“The Girls Next Door.” Focusing on three of Hefner’s closest house bunnies, Holly Madison, Kendra Wilkinson and Bridget Marquardt, the show forced them to exist as “the kind of fun, sexy, DTF gal promoted by the Playboy brand.”7 Today, the sexualized approach to the bimbo label associated with the Playmates has evolved into sex-positivity.

Now in the 2010s, TikTok has repopularized the concept of bimbos with “BimboTok,”8 thus launching the careers of the next generation of bimbos. This online community prioritizes self-confidence and inclusivity, while putting a new spin on the pink bimbo aesthetic.

One popular name in this modern resurgence is social media influencer Chrissy Chlapecka. Aside from posing in cute outfits and makeup, Chlapecka openly posts about her prochoice, pro-sex work and proBLM beliefs. To her, “The bimbo is somebody who radiates confidence, is comfortable in themself, and doesn’t give a fuck about what anyone says to them.”9 On BimboTok, bimbos come in all shapes, sizes and gender identities.

Today’s concept of bimbofication is to transform yourself into your own idea of beauty, no matter who you are. Today’s bimbos hope to reclaim the term without it being derogatory, allowing individuals of all racial, gender and sexual identifications to embrace their sexualities.10 Building on the sex-positive, media savvy legacy of the bimbos through the ages, this new generation of self-identified bimos reclaimed this label. Now, one chooses to be a bimbo because it makes you happy. ■

7 Ibid.

8 Cortés, Michelle Santiago. “No Thoughts. Head Empty. Just Vibes: The Rise Of The New Age Bimbo.” New Age Bimbos and Bimbofication TikTok Trend. Accessed January 26, 2021 9 Ibid. 10 Ibid.