Episode 44: Bimboism, the return of an archetype

The 'bimbo', a feminine archetype that has at times existed as a cultural construct, stereotype, or epithet thrown at women, is making a return in the form of 'bimboism'. What defines bimboism? Wilful empty headedness, nonchalance, vacancy, a superficial interest in matters, or only an interest in the superficial, combining to ensure nothing is ever taken seriously, except appearance.  We ask why self-consciously adopted 'bimboism' has become popular amongst young women? And even some 'looksmaxxing' young men. We put forward two key explanations, firstly that the given the declining prospects for young people, who are watching the world and their futures burn (sometimes literally), is it any wonder many want to checkout mentally? Secondly, in our pornified culture, that raises the expectation to have sex of the kind represented in pornography, the modern 'bimbo' is surely a form of disassociation and attempt to appear and be absent, other than a pornified image. If 'bimboism' is a protective measure and retreat, when else has that happened historically? And isn't there some appeal to everyone in rejecting responsibility and shrugging off caring about serious things?We discuss Betty Friedan's 'The Feminine Mystique', the effects of social media's one-dimensional flattening of subjectivity, and consider the powerful impact the cultural space of the internet has across differing generational lines and especially sex. Other topics include the recent Stonewall leadership change, modern technology's relationship to anxiety, and the aesthetics of porn genres.