Bimbo

Last updated

Presumed portrait of Rosalie Duthe (1748-1830), called "the first officially recorded dumb blonde." Claude-Jean-Baptiste-Hoin-xx-Presumed-Portrait-of-Mademoiselle-Rosalie-Duthe.jpg
Presumed portrait of Rosalie Duthé (1748–1830), called "the first officially recorded dumb blonde."

Bimbo is slang for a conventionally attractive, sexualized naïve woman. [1] The term was originally used in the United States as early as 1919 for an unintelligent or brutish man. [2] As of the early 21st century, the "stereotypical bimbo" appearance became akin to that of a physically attractive woman. It is commonly employed to characterize women who are blonde, have curvaceous physiques, wear excessive makeup, and dress in revealing attire while being associated with "the dumb blonde" stereotype. [3]

Contents

History

The word bimbo derives from the Italian bimbo, [4] a masculine-gender term that means "little or baby boy" or "young (male) child" (the feminine form of the Italian word is bimba). Use of this term began in the United States as early as 1919, and was a slang word used to describe an unintelligent [5] or brutish [6] man.

It was not until the 1920s that the term bimbo began to be associated with women in popular culture. In 1920, Frank Crumit, [7] Billy Jones, and Aileen Stanley all recorded versions of "My Little Bimbo Down on the Bamboo Isle", with words by Grant Clarke and music by Walter Donaldson. The song uses the term "bimbo" to describe an island girl of questionable virtue. The 1929 silent film Desert Nights uses it to describe a wealthy female crook, and in The Broadway Melody , an angry Bessie Love calls a chorus girl a bimbo. The first use of its female meaning cited in the Oxford English Dictionary is dated 1929, from the scholarly journal American Speech, where the definition was given simply as "a woman".

In the 1940s, bimbo was still being used to refer to both men and women, as in, for example the comic novel Full Moon by P. G. Wodehouse who wrote of "bimbos who went about the place making passes at innocent girls after discarding their wives like old tubes of toothpaste". [8]

The term died out again for much of the 20th century until it became popular again in the 1980s and 1990s, with political sex scandals. [9] As bimbo began to be used increasingly for females, exclusively male variations of the word began to surface, like mimbo and himbo, a backformation of bimbo, which refers to an unintelligent, but attractive, man. [4]

In 2017, "The Bimbo Movement" was founded by self-proclaimed bimbo and adult star Alicia Amira, [10] "the woman most responsible for popularizing the idea of reclaiming hyper-femininity" [11] in order to destigmatise women who are bimbos and to reclaim the term "bimbo". The term later re-entered usage by way of some members of Generation Z seeking to further reclaim the pejorative, such as the "BimboTok" community on the social media platform TikTok, where users engaged in stereotypical hyper-femininity to satirise consumerism, capitalism, and misogyny. [12]

The term is sometimes associated with men or women who dye their hair blond, indicating that physical attractiveness is more important to them than other, non-physical traits [3] and as an extension to "the dumb blonde" stereotype. [3]

Politics

In American politics, the word was used in the 1990s during Bill Clinton's sexual misconduct allegations, leading to the invention of the term "Bimbo eruptions" to refer to political sex scandals. [13] The expression was also used in a 2014 report [14] in which Colin Powell explained his reluctance to vote for Hillary Clinton in light of her husband's continued affairs with "bimbos".

After the first 2015 Republican Presidential Debate, Donald Trump re-tweeted a message calling debate moderator and Fox News host Megyn Kelly a "bimbo" via Twitter. [15] This took place after Kelly asked Trump a question that referenced his television show The Apprentice from season 6 in 2005. Shortly afterwards, Stephen Richter of The Globalist published an opinion piece in which he accused Trump of being a bimbo, noting the original definition of bimbo as "an unintelligent or brutish male". [16]

In March 2024, the California First Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the lower court's decision to deny a woman's request to change her name to Candi Bimbo Doll, marking a notable legal development in American jurisprudence related to 'bimbofication'. [17] [18]

See also

Related Research Articles

Feminazi is a pejorative term for feminists that was popularized by politically conservative American radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bitch (slang)</span> Pejorative slang word for a person or thing, mainly a woman

Bitch is a pejorative slang word for a person, usually a woman. When applied to a woman or girl, it means someone who is belligerent, unreasonable, malicious, controlling, aggressive, or dominant. When applied to a man or boy, bitch reverses its meaning and is a derogatory term for being subordinate, weak, or cowardly. In gay speech the word bitch can refer approvingly to a man who is unusually assertive or has the characteristics used pejoratively of a woman.

A valley girl is a socioeconomic, linguistic, and youth subcultural stereotype and stock character originating during the 1980s: any materialistic upper-middle-class young woman, associated with unique vocal and California dialect features, from the Los Angeles commuter communities of the San Fernando Valley. In subsequent years, the term was broadly applied to any American woman who epitomized frivolity, ditziness, airheadedness, or who prioritizes superficial concerns such as personal appearance, physical attractiveness, and excessive materialism over intellectual or personal accomplishment.

<i>Pussy</i> Term with multiple meanings

Pussy is an English noun, adjective, and—in rare instances—verb. It has several meanings, as slang, as euphemism, and as vulgarity. Most commonly, it is used as a noun with the meaning "cat", "coward", or "weakling". In slang, it can mean "vulva or vagina" and less commonly, by synecdoche, "sexual intercourse with a woman". Because of its multiple senses including both innocent and vulgar connotations, pussy is often the subject of double entendre.

Blonde jokes are a joke cycle based on a stereotype of a dumb blonde woman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blond</span> Human hair color

Blond or blonde, also referred to as fair hair, is a human hair color characterized by low levels of eumelanin, the dark pigment. The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some yellowish color. The color can be from the very pale blond to reddish "strawberry" blond or golden-brownish ("sandy") blond colors. Occasionally, the state of being blond, and specifically the occurrence of blond traits in a predominantly dark or colored population are referred to as blondism.

Slut is an English-language term for a person, usually a woman, who is sexually promiscuous or considered to have loose sexual morals. It is predominately used as an insult, sexual slur or offensive term of disparagement. It originally meant "a dirty, slovenly woman", and is rarely used to refer to men, generally requiring clarification by use of the terms male slut or man whore.

Effeminacy or male femininity is the embodiment of feminine traits in boys or men, particularly those considered untypical of men or masculinity. These traits include roles, stereotypes, behaviors, and appearances that are socially associated with girls and women. Throughout Western civilization, men considered effeminate have faced prejudice and discrimination. Gay men are often stereotyped as being effeminate, and vice versa. However, femininity, masculinity, and other forms of gender expression are independent of sexual orientation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blonde stereotype</span> Stereotypes of blond-haired people

Blonde stereotypes are stereotypes of blonde-haired people. Sub-types of this stereotype include the "blonde bombshell" and the "dumb blonde". Blondes have historically been portrayed as physically attractive, though often perceived as less intelligent compared to their brunette counterparts. There are many blonde jokes made on these premises. However, research has shown that blonde women are not less intelligent than women with other hair colors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Essex girl</span> Stereotype

Essex girl, as a pejorative stereotype in the United Kingdom, applies to a woman viewed as promiscuous and unintelligent, characteristics jocularly attributed to women from the county of Essex. It is applied widely throughout the country and has gained popularity over time, dating from the 1980s and 1990s.

<i>Shiksa</i> Term for a non-Jewish woman or girl

Shiksa is an often disparaging term for a gentile woman or girl. The word, which is of Yiddish origin, has moved into English usage and some Hebrew usage, mostly in North American Jewish culture.

Lipstick feminism is a variety of feminism that seeks to embrace traditional concepts of femininity, including the sexual power of women, alongside traditional feminist ideas. The concept emerged within the third-wave as a response to ideals created by previous movements, where women felt that they could not both be feminine and a feminist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reappropriation</span> Valuing a formerly pejorative term in esteem

In linguistics, reappropriation, reclamation, or resignification is the cultural process by which a group reclaims words or artifacts that were previously used in a way disparaging of that group. It is a specific form of a semantic change. Linguistic reclamation can have wider implications in the fields of discourse and has been described in terms of personal or sociopolitical empowerment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cougar (slang)</span> Woman who seeks romantic or sexual relationships with younger men

Cougar is a slang term for a woman who seeks romantic or sexual relationships with significantly younger men.

Trixie is a generally derogatory slang term referring to a young urban white woman, typically single and in her 20s or early 30s. The term originated during the 1990s in Chicago, Illinois, with a popular satirical website dedicated to the Lincoln Park Trixie Society, a fictional social club based in Chicago's upscale Lincoln Park neighborhood.

Himbo, a portmanteau of the English masculine pronoun him and bimbo, is a slang term for a sexually attractive, sexualized, naïve and unintelligent man. The first known use dates back to 1988; the word gained renewed popularity and attention in the 2010s and 2020s. Since its inception, the term and the stereotype it describes have generated a range of commentary and reactions from writers, entertainers, linguists, and cultural analysts.

LGBTQ linguistics is the study of language as used by members of LGBTQ communities. Related or synonymous terms include lavender linguistics, advanced by William Leap in the 1990s, which "encompass[es] a wide range of everyday language practices" in LGBTQ communities, and queer linguistics, which refers to the linguistic analysis concerning the effect of heteronormativity on expressing sexual identity through language. The former term derives from the longtime association of the color lavender with LGBTQ communities. "Language", in this context, may refer to any aspect of spoken or written linguistic practices, including speech patterns and pronunciation, use of certain vocabulary, and, in a few cases, an elaborate alternative lexicon such as Polari.

The blonde versus brunette rivalry is a rivalry—whether real, imagined, or fictional—between women with blonde hair and those with brown (brunette) hair. In popular culture and everyday conversation, the words blonde and brunette are sometimes used as nouns to refer to women by these two hair colors. This supposed rivalry is a common fictional theme in books, magazine articles, film, and television. Some have argued that the spectacle of blonde and brunette women engaged in physical fights with each other has been a male fantasy for many years.

"Basic" is a slang term in American popular culture, used pejoratively to describe culturally unoriginal people, particularly young women, who are perceived to prefer products, trends, and music that will make them look upper class even though they are not. "Basic bitch" originated in hip hop culture and rose in popularity through rap music, songs, blogs, and videos from 2011 to 2014. The male counterpart can often be put under the "bro" label.

The slang term Chad has historically been applied in different contexts. It originated in the UK, where it was used to describe a particular humorous ad-hoc cartoon. Later, it was employed in Chicago as a derogatory description for young, upper-class, urban males. In modern internet slang, the term generally refers to an "alpha" or simply a sexually successful male.

References

  1. Tom Dalzell (2009), "bimbo", The Routledge Dictionary of Modern American Slang and Unconventional English, Routledge, p. 75, ISBN   978-0-415-37182-7
  2. Oxford dictionary of word origins. Cresswell, Julia, 1950-, Oxford University Press. (Second ed.). New York. 9 September 2010. ISBN   978-0199547937. OCLC   663824301.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  3. 1 2 3 Encyclopedia of Hair, pp. 149-151
  4. 1 2 "Etymonline" . Retrieved 1 November 2011.
  5. Oxford English Dictionary, 1919
  6. "Slang of 1920s". Archived from the original on 18 June 2010. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
  7. Crumit, Frank (20 October 2016). "My Little Bimbo Down on the Bamboo Isle" via Internet Archive.
  8. Diarmaid Ó Muirithe, Words We Use: The Meaning of Words And Where They Come From, Gill & Macmillan Ltd, Oct 31, 2006
  9. Justin Cord, The Unexpected Evolution of Language: Discover the Surprising Etymology of Everyday Words Hayes Adams Media, Sep 18, 2012
  10. ‘’This Morning, ITV’
  11. Mel Magazine’
  12. Dickson, E. J. (23 November 2020). "In 2020, the Bimbo Is Back". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  13. Grant Barrett, Hatchet Jobs and Hardball: The Oxford Dictionary of American Political Slang , Oxford University Press, Apr 21, 2006
  14. "Colin Powell wrote in an email that Bill Clinton was 'd---ing bimbos'". Business Insider. 14 September 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  15. "Donald Trump late-night angry-tweets Megyn Kelly, and it is epic". The Washington Post .
  16. "Donald Trump Outs Himself as "Bimbo"". 4 April 2016.
  17. Egelko, Bob (14 March 2024). "S.F. woman can change her name to Candi Bimbo Doll, court rules". San Francisco Chronicle .
  18. "Appellate Courts Case Information" (PDF). 14 March 2024.