Tag: Misogyny

How to be a bimbo in 2021

A group of TikTok creators are embracing hyperfemininity while rejecting internalized misogyny and the male gaze

In recent years, words like “bitch” and “slut” have undergone a transformation. “Bimbo” used to be a misogynistic insult, connoting an attractive but unintelligent woman. But now it is the latest word in “girl world” to go from demeaning to empowering. On TikTok, bimbos are trending. This proud new breed has embraced the identity of a new-age bimbo while sporting a pink Y2K aesthetic, worshipping icons Dolly Parton and Anna Nicole Smith, and preaching leftist values.

“A neo-bimbo unironically loves hyper-feminine fashion, jewelry and aesthetics in the face of a patriarchal institution that would deem them frivolous,” explains Bunny, who goes by the handle @bunnythebimbo. She has gained a following by making videos where she teaches classes on what she has coined as “bimbology.” Having recently graduated with a Women and Gender Studies degree from Chatham University, she loves to analyze what being a new-age bimbo means from a theoretical perspective. In one post on her Tiktok, she says bimbos take their femininity to the extreme as a way of making fun of how men perceive them in this patriarchal society. “But also we’re taking part and pleasure in it so it’s once again ours,” she points out.

Twenty-three-year-old Tennessean Hannah Foran, a.k.a. @parishiltonslefttitty, enjoys being able to dress for the male gaze, even if she’s subverting it. Ever since she was little, she’s admired the Y2K aesthetic. Known for her platinum blonde hair, plump lips, Juicy Couture, and cleavage, she says, “To me, being a new-age bimbo means you’re flipping the ‘male gaze’ on itself. You are becoming the very thing that men fear; a promiscuous, very attractive woman who plays dumb but is actually very smart once she reveals all her cards.”

New Yorker Meredith Suzuki (@maeultra) recently started to embrace being a goth-bimbo, a type of bimbo who has a darker aesthetic than the stereotypical pink.

“We are hot bitches who choose to be dumb, not just because some annoying idiot man made them like that,” she says in one clip on her TikTok. The 24-year-old believes the pandemic and capitalism pushed her towards bimboism. She became increasingly frustrated with how much more mental and emotional labour women have to do.“I wanted to break away from all that,” she says. One day she woke up and decided that she just wanted to be hot instead.

Perhaps the most successful bimbo on TikTok, Chrissy Chlapecka, 20, has attracted more than two million followers to her account, @chrissychlapecka. In a recent video, she frolics through the streets of a wintery Chicago in a thin coat unzipped to show off a pink fluffy bra. “Sweetheart, this is a sign to wear whatever the hell you want,” she tells her audience. “I don’t care if it’s snowing! Winter is a concept!” Her account is filled with videos where she’s either screaming at viewers to stop being sad over some mediocre boy, making fun of Trump supporters, or discussing how bad she is at math. Chlapecka famously finishes each of her captions to her videos with “#ihatecapitalism.”

Fifty-one-year-old Ginger Willson Pate, @glitterparis, is one of the older bimbos on the app. Her favourite part of being a bimbo is how often she’s underestimated because of her looks. She claims it has worked to her advantage in her life. Along with her daily TikTok videos, she’s a real estate agent in Silicon Valley and has a business with her partner of flipping and selling houses.

“That’s been a really lucrative career for me,” she points out, “so I’m not as stupid as I look.”

To Pate, being a bimbo means she doesn’t have to be ashamed of being ultra-girly and materialistic. “I’ve actually been put down for that by men that I’ve dated,” she says. But she’s happy the way she is. “I’m not gonna tone it down for some guy’s opinion of me,” she explains.

In the past, Concordia Journalism and Creative Writing student Nadia Trudel has struggled with letting herself care about her appearance, while simultaneously wanting to be an intelligent young woman.

“I think seeing these TikToks has encouraged me to be more unapologetically confident and take pride in my appearance without feeling shallow,” she says. Being smart and caring about your appearance had always seemed like two incompatible concepts. She’d been taught to value being smart and dislike girls who cared about their appearance. But now, she recognizes that belief system to be internalized misogyny.

Emma Amar, a Concordia Software Engineering student, categorizes the bimbo movement as a feminist movement. She believes that modern day feminism typically rejects stereotypically feminine things. As Gen Z, we are the daughters of the mothers who wouldn’t let us play with Barbies.

“Publicly deciding to embrace those qualities and still be a feminist, or still be politically informed, is really powerful because it shows that the way you look does not automatically decide how smart or informed you are,” explains Amar.

“Do you support all women regardless of their job title and if they have plastic surgery or body modifications?” Syrena (@fauxrich) asks in a TikTok video about the requirements to be a bimbo. While Syrena has not gotten any work done yet, the 22-year-old is currently studying to become a cosmetic injector.

Foran, @parishiltonslefttitty, openly admits that she had her breasts done in exchange for spanking a sugar daddy with a paddle in a leopard thong. She has blackmailed sugar daddies that were married in order to get free Botox and lip filler. “I want my nose done next,” she adds.

Ultimately, bimbos have created a safe and inclusive space on the internet where one can be themselves without judgement.

“She’s actually a radical leftist who is pro sex work, pro Black Lives Matter, pro LGBTQ+, pro choice,” Chlapecka explains in a TikTok video about the role of the bimbo, ”and will always be there for her girls, gays and theys.” While Chlapecka has progressive values, she still, as a blonde thin white woman, perfectly fits the original bimbo aesthetic from a decade ago from reality tv shows such as The Simple Life and The Girls Next Door.

Despite the progressive message of bimbo TikTok, Amar doesn’t believe that the community is sufficiently diverse. She has mostly come across white women on bimbo Tiktok.

“But I think that has a lot to do with TikTok’s algorithm,” she says. Bunny, who is a self-proclaimed fat white woman bimbo, says she’d also like to see more accounts uplifting POC and fat creators. “I think that creating your own aesthetic despite restrictions that say that you cannot be a part of it is something that can be really powerful,” Bunny explains about her own journey of embracing the bimbo aesthetic as a fat woman.

“The definition has expanded to become much more inclusive of all genders, races, body types, sexual orientations and aesthetics,” says Suzuki. In 2021, bimbo no longer just describes ditzy white blonde girls with big boobs. If that were the case, Suzuki wouldn’t be here. She’s proud of how far Gen Z bimbos have come when it comes to inclusivity and diversity. “But this is really only the beginning.”

Many bimbo creators have gotten comments from their followers claiming they want to be a bimbo but they don’t have big boobs or they don’t have the right sort of clothes. “A neo-bimbo needs to be hot, but that is not deemed by patriarchal beauty standards,” explains Bunny, “but rather by an unapologetic confidence that radiates from within.” Bunny strongly believes that anyone can be a bimbo.

Both Amar and Trudel say that since starting to watch bimbo TikToks, they have gained confidence. “It’s okay to just be like ‘I’m sexy, I’m hot,’’ Trudel says. “And it can be fully serious, or it can be kind of ironic.” To her, it seems like there’s an almost fake it till you make it quality to gaining confidence as a bimbo. “If you start acting like you are sexy and calling yourself sexy, maybe you’ll start to actually feel that way,” she explains.

Amar sometimes gets nervous about dressing in revealing clothes out of fear that others will judge her and think she looks slutty. Seeing bimbo creators dress unapologetically in hyperfeminine or hypersexual outfits has helped her become more comfortable. “It reminds me it’s okay to express myself in whatever way I want to,” she says.

While on the exterior, the bimbo movement on TikTok might seem like simply a pink aesthetic and pretty girls, it’s so much more. Syrena states that being a bimbo, at the end of the day, is a lifestyle grounded in kindness. “Loving yourself and refraining from judging others too quickly,” says Syrena, “That is the most important part of being a bimbo.”

 

Graphic by @the.beta.lab

Categories
News

The abortion debate: behind Canada’s bilingualism

The idea of having a Conservative government under Andrew Scheer reopening the debate on abortion comes as a shock, as most Quebecers believe it’s a vested right.

On Aug. 29, Tourism Minister Mélanie Joly tweeted a video of a pro-life organization leader, Scott Hayward, confirming that Conservative leader Andrew Scheer was on board with his cabinet ministers raising issues related to abortion. The claims of RightNow’s founder were received as mixed messages from the Tories, while a few party members were saying that such a debate was definitely closed.

The very same day as the video was shared online, Scheer expressed his position on the issue in a press conference, saying there is no contradiction in his discourse. Instead, he argued that “a Conservative government will not reopen this issue and I, as prime minister, will oppose measures that reopen this issue,”

But as reported by CBC, RightNow, which is currently registered as a third party with Elections Canada for the upcoming election, has the intention of recruiting and training more than 50 volunteers to run as electoral candidates. This raised concerns among experts as to whether Scheer would have the authority over his caucus to truly shut down debate on abortion.

“In the past weeks, people have been comparing Scheer with Harper, saying Harper said the same thing that [he would not reopen the debate],” said Anne-Marie Rivard, a PhD student at Concordia, whose research mainly focuses on post-Morgentaler abortion rights in Canada, and political translation surrounding the issue. “The thing is that Harper had some control over his caucus, whereas Scheer being the new guy, I’m not sure he has the same type of stronghold over his caucus the same way Harper did. So when he says that he wouldn’t allow a private member to propose private bills, that remains to be seen.”

The anti-abortion group is tackling mostly English provinces such as British Columbia and Alberta, where such discourse seems to resonate the most. Indeed, the questions on abortion have always divided Canada’s francophones and anglophone provinces. According to a Léger survey, close to 90 per cent of Quebecers believe that abortion should be completely legal, whereas the percentage drops considerably in the rest of Canada.

Rivard argues that the disparity comes from Quebec’s Quiet Revolution in the ‘60s which provoked a great nationalist-separatist movement, but also a separation from the church. The wide religious dissolution also nourished feminism across Quebec, stronger than elsewhere in the country, said Rivard. Such an empowering movement arguably caused the approach to abortion in a more humane way and secured its access in Quebec. The province was even reimbursing and offering the procedure a few years before the 1988 Morgentaler’s decision to decriminalize abortion.

“Comparing the English and French vocabulary, I have found that words in English use baby instead of fetus or mother,” said Rivard. “Whereas when it’s translated into French or even just originally spoken, they will use femme instead. Even the term abortion, in French, you will often hear “interruption volontaire de grossesse” which, obviously, with the term volunteer, implies that it’s a choice.”

Talks about reopening the debate might then come as a surprise for most Quebecers. But what most people tend to ignore is that, while the Supreme Court decriminalized the procedure, it is still unprotected by law; nor is it a constitutional right. This is where anti-abortion groups such as RightNow could gain leverage if they were to be backed by a government, as there is no law governing its access.

Indeed, conversations regarding abortion are arduous to bring into a province where its citizens believe it’s a vested right. Such confusion also leads to the belief that its access is guaranteed because of its legality, which is unfortunately not the case in provinces such as New Brunswick, as shown in a 2016-2017 annual report by Health Canada.

Andrew Scheer, a known devotee of Catholicism, insisted on the fact that whatever his own beliefs are, his party will not reopen the debate. But will he be willing to actively support and even improve the system? The answer is yet to be determined.

 

Graphic by @sundaeghost

Categories
News

Poli Savvy: Misogyny of climate crisis deniers

At the beginning of September, People’s Party of Canada’s leader Maxime Bernier denigrated environmental activist Greta Thunberg in a tweet, calling her “mentally unstable.” Although he later retracted and apologized for his comment, this just  illustrates yet another ugly, misogynistic face of climate change deniers.

Really, why do white men seem to have a harder time accepting the environmental crisis than others? Worse even when a woman is in a powerful position and has a strong voice in the matter?

Research published by Oxford University explored the green-feminine stereotype, where both men and women judged eco-friendly products, behaviours, and consumers as more feminine. Simply put, it showed that men believe climate action is “unmanly.”

What Bernier did by attacking the 16-year-old activist was a demonstration of white fragility. Thunberg isn’t posting photos of what she is eating seeking some kind of instant glory. Her message is not a personal cry, but one that is universal. Inevitably, she confronts us with our own actions – or, mostly, our inactions.

It seems that Conservative white men have found their arch enemy within voices like Thunberg’s, which represent everything they believe is slowing them down; women and caring for the environment.

But truly, how fragile is masculinity to believe that environmental actions are more feminine? Isn’t it ironic that men tend to be considered less sensitive than women, but when it comes to the perception of their masculinity, we are suddenly walking on eggshells?

As Thunberg will be making her way towards Montreal to attend the climate protest on Sept. 27, we can only expect to see more misogynistic comments online. Comments which, sadly, switch the focus of what’s really at stake. The environmental crisis should not be a battle of the sexes.

 

Graphic by Victoria Blair

Categories
Opinions

We need to redefine the word ‘woman’ in order to reflect reality

Graphic by @spooky_soda

One student’s response to Barbara Kay’s misogynistic piece in the National Post

Gender politics has been a hot topic for quite some time now. With the rise of controversial figures such as Jordan Peterson and Ben Shapiro, people from the right-wing of the political spectrum have entertained their ideas, calling their comments “free speech” when they are clearly insulting someone’s identity. Barbara Kay, a columnist and former Concordia English literature professor, shares similar beliefs to these men.

In an article published in the National Post on Sept. 13, Kay used biological reality as a weapon to blatantly discriminate against transgender activists. In the article, titled “Diluting the meaning of ‘woman,’ to appease transgender activists, is misogyny,” she argues that radical trans activists “are guilty of the worst form of misogyny in their ruthless campaign to erase from our thoughts the human female body as a unique life form.”

Kay’s perspective disrespects trans women who tenaciously fight for their right to be recognized as equal to cisgender women. Kay’s idea of misogyny ignores the same misogyny that many trans women face on a daily basis just to operate as women in our society. Trans activist and actress Cassandra James shared her struggles with misogyny in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter saying, “I remember complaining to a co-worker of mine, who was a cis woman, about some of the [misogyny] I was experiencing, and she said, ‘Welcome. Welcome to what it means to be a woman.’” James’s experience is only a fragment of what thousands of trans women face including sexual assault, hostility, and cat-calling both in public and in the workplace.

In my opinion, Kay played selective feminism, as she willingly chose to ignore the complex misogyny that trans women face. She only took into account the misogyny faced by cisgender women.

There is a fine line between free speech and offensive speech. In Kay’s article, she criminalizes transgender individuals by presenting the anecdote of Karen White, a trans woman who sexually assaulted four women in a women’s prison after being sentenced to 18 months for the sexual abuse of a child. Kay reinforced the belief that trans women are men who pretend to be women in order to sexually assault women and minors. She misled people to believe that we must be afraid of trans women because they are ‘wrongdoers.’ Promoting these types of ideas further marginalizes transgender individuals while creating further stigma and prejudice. We must not hold an entire group accountable for the actions of one individual, because it conveys to the public that transgender individuals are the same as child molesters.

Many individuals firmly disagree and call it “politicizing language” to consider trans women “real” women. They also argue that trans women are biologically male and, therefore, cannot be women. I believe language should be used to reflect reality. The word ‘woman’ was initially created to encompass only women who were born biologically female. Now that many trans women have disclosed their identity, it is important to redefine ‘woman’ to include trans women, and essentially, to better reflect reality. Since trans women identify and have always felt themselves to be women, I believe it is our duty to include them in that definition. This is important, not only for social inclusion, but also to reflect a subjective reality that both cisgender women and transgender women experience.

There is clear scientific evidence that shows transgender individuals’ feelings of being born as the wrong biological sex. In an article titled “Biological origins of sexual orientation and gender identity: Impact on health” published by PubMed, researchers confirm that “multiple layers of evidence confirm that sexual orientation and gender identity are as biological, innate and immutable as the other traits conferred during [the first half of pregnancy].”

I believe the definition of ‘woman’ is a socially-driven term that refers to one’s gender identity, gender expression and gendered role in society. The idea that gender is intrinsically connected to one’s biological sex is a false claim; many transgender, intersex or individuals with chromosomal abnormalities live as a different gender from their biological sex. Furthermore, there are many cisgender women who are infertile or born with conditions where the vagina and uterus are either underdeveloped or absent. Aren’t they women? Sorry Barbara, but women come in all shapes and sizes.

Graphic by @spooky_soda

 

Categories
Opinions

A plea for help and patience

Graphic by Florence Yee.

Fighting misogyny one step at a time in an ever-changing climate

One aspect of being a teacher people don’t often talk about is bodily awareness. In other words, you are conscious of the way people may be perceiving your body and how they may be possibly judging you. The effect varies from person to person.

As a female teacher working in a male-dominated program, I am incredibly aware of my femininity when I’m up in front of a class. I can’t help but focus on how my clothes fit me and how become self-conscious about certain parts of my body. This awareness, to me, is usually neither positive nor negative—it is just there.

However, since Donald Trump won the United States presidential election, I no longer feel this awareness solely in situations where I am surrounded by men. I feel it all the time, and it is no longer a neutral feeling but a negative one. I have become self-conscious of being female.

I carry an invisible weight with me everywhere I go—sometimes it intensifies out of nowhere, like a panic attack. I’ll be at home working and suddenly wonder if my research will be taken less seriously because I am a woman. I’ll hear men debating about abortion and instead of responding rationally like I normally would, I become consumed by rage that people who will never be in that situation are trying to tell me what I can do with my own body. I’ll walk through the halls of my school and hear a male student tell a female student, “you only think that because you’re a woman.”

I am tired. I am so very tired. And I succumb to the inescapable thoughts circulating in the darkness of my mind: “I am not a human being…I am a woman.”

I have always been proud to be female. By being a proud and successful woman, I always felt I was proving to the world that women can do anything we set our minds to and I never backed out of a fight to prove it.

Now, however, I feel like an injured lioness who needs to retreat in order to heal my battle wounds. I used to feel powerful but now all I feel is overwhelmed, and I wonder if other women and other groups targeted by Trump feel the same—like we’re being stripped of our humanity. Or perhaps, we never had it to begin with—it was all an illusion.

Donald Trump sets a precedent for saying and doing atrocious things, such as saying blatantly misogynous remarks about women and openly calling Hillary Clinton “a nasty woman.” We need to ban together and say that it is not okay. This is why I ask that, if you see someone being the target of violence, whether verbal or physical—intervene.

If you have a friend who is particularly affected by the events and rhetoric in the U.S, be patient and understanding with them. In a world where blatant misogyny, racism, xenophobia, homophobia and hate are on the rise, it is more important than ever to accept, love and support each other.

As my greatest fictional hero, Captain Jean-Luc Picard, captain of the starship Enterprise in Star Trek the Next Generation once said, “We think we’ve come so far. Torture of heretics, burning of witches, is all ancient history. Then, before you can blink an eye, suddenly, it threatens to start all over again… vigilance Mr. Worf. That is the price we must continually pay.”

Graphic by Florence Yee

Categories
Music

Borgore can ‘suck it’

The artist rises to fame all while putting down women

“Girl, take example from these bitches/In bed, act like a ho but first, do the dishes!” is a lyric from Borgore’s song, “Act Like a Ho.”

It’s cool, though, because he said in an interview with Rolling Stone that the lyric is just a joke. I’m sure that Borgore’s joking nature was quickly understood by Stacey Anderson, who met with Borgore, to conduct the Rolling Stone interview.

“When I first met Borgore, he locked eyes with me and said, ‘The thing I love most is cummin’ on your face, suck it, bitch,’” Anderson said in her Buzzfeed article entitled “Borgore Wants You To Know That He ‘Fucking Loves Women.’”

I had initially intended to write a piece on how painfully muscled-up his EDM songs are, and how the synth-generated melodies, really, introduce nothing innovative to the world of electronic music. I would have further delved into how his disinterested vocals match the tone of a prepubescent teen trying to reach high notes. In the same immature fashion, Borgore sings about “blow[ing] your mind” if you were to go over to his place tonight on his song, appropriately titled, “Blow Your Mind.” I would have then pointed out that no lyric of that low a calibre should be accepted by any music genre—but, then, with a quick Google search on this electronic artist, Borgore did blow my mind.

Borgore calls his style of music Borestep—it’s a mix between rap and dubstep—but there’s also a handful of scum mixed into his tunes. In his song entitled “Glory Hole,” he labels a woman as a whale and then sings “Nah, sea mammals are not on my fuck list.”  Is this another of Borgore’s jokes? I would expect such a line to induce disgust rather than laughter.

Misogynistic tendencies are rampant in pop-culture songs, though often hidden under the blanket of double-entendre. Without justifying lyrics that demean women, Borgore seems to take a step further than many popular artists, and appears to live what he leeches.

At the end of his interview with Anderson, she describes Borgore as commenting “disinterestedly on the lack of celebrated female DJs in EDM.” Borgore replies to the question by saying  “I have no idea…It’s a lot of travelling. Maybe that’s it?”

As the music editor for The Concordian’s bumping music section, I had received Borgore’s press release, and set-up an interview with a willing writer—this was before I was aware that Borgore’s music was synonymous with whatever you may find in a vacuum bag. Borgore did not answer his phone, and after rescheduling the interview with his manager, Borgore still did not answer his phone. Moreover, Borgore texted the writer that he would be ready for the interview now after having rescheduled twice, but the DJ kept rejecting the writer’s calls— toying with a writer who’s just trying to do his job.

Borgore is like a spoiled child desperately grasping for attention—trying to push the boundaries of what he can do and say. His music also exudes the cleverness of a souped-up monkey. I just couldn’t believe how hilarious the song “Dolphin Attack” was, because, you see, at multiple points in the song, Borgore will say “dolphin attack” and, in quick response, a sound sample of a dolphin is heard. After having mopped-up the drink I spewed from my mouth in laughter, and kicking myself for not having come-up with something that clever, the album continued to roll, and I thought: “IS THAT A LASER SAMPLE I HEAR?!”

If only more people were like Boresnore.

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