explaining the hyperfemininity aesthetic

Who else is in the "Repressed My Femininity Until I Was An Adult" Gang? 🙋‍♀️

I really agree that femininity needs to stop being demonized, but as someone who actually took the time to explore femininity, and relearn that I didn't like it, people really do need to stop assuming that "unlearning internalized misogyny" means "learning to like being feminine". It becomes a full circle of forcing girls to be femme to be accepted again

I know ppl can't catch everything into a 37 min video but don't forget Nicki Minaj was also huge in hyperfeminity in rap, Pink friday, the pink print, she's called the black barbie and her fanbase is called the barbz. Her signature color is PINK, and she was one of the main reasons why I embraced my feminity and stopped the "not like other girls" phase. She helped normalize being unashamingly GIRLY in rap culture

Marilyn Monroe's Lorelai wasn't dumb; she said that she pretends to be dumb because, until she met her fiance, she never met a man who liked it when she showed off her smarts. Her fiance, who is a nerd, admires her intelligence.

I think being a tomboy is only considered accettable as long as you're feminine presenting, straight and attractive.

It’s so sad to realize as an adult, when I was a child, how deeply embedded my internalized misogyny was towards myself. I hated pink and I hated being girly. I genuinely was taught by just watching mannerisms and how people talked about and to women that being feminine was fucking stupid and dumb and weak. Now I love pink.

I feel like bimbocore is a direct result of and pushback to the “I’m not like other girls” movement of the early to mid 00s this idea that you had to be ‘different’ or ‘one of the guys’ you didn’t ‘create drama’. Chrissy Chlapecka says “be happy, do what you want” and I 100% agree

I hate that you can’t dress how you want without it being a statement. Here’s this for a statement: I wore it bc I felt like it and it was clean. That’s it 👏🏽

90% of my life was spend living this fake tomboy aesthetic even though i loved all things girly. Why? because being feminine was attached to all things horrible like pr0st1tut1on, evilness, etc. Back then girls i knew who were hyperfemme like my cousin my teacher a mom's friend, they were all called the most terrible things. Nowadays the hyperfemme look is being popularized by music artist actresses like cardi b, alexa demie (though she's more of a dark one) and NOW i'm finally comforted enough to wear hot pink miniskirts out in public but i get called a "basic b1tch" or a "trend-follower" when in reality i was just comfortable enough to finally show the true me. It's crazy how societies view on hyperfemininity changes every two business days.

"You go into Harvard?" "what, like it's hard?" One of the best moments of Legally Blond. Elle getting into Harvard wasn't enough because the movie implied that she got in partially because the old, white men making the admission decisions saw her in a bikini and found her attractive. Elle had to prove herself to everyone, including the audience, by doing well in law school before we all finally acknowledge her brilliance. Which she always had. You don't get a 4.0 in college without being smart, it doesn't matter what your major is.

I think the worst thing about glamorising a financial dependence on men isn’t so much about it’s implications on an aggregate level, it’s the fact that it’s encouraging women into relationships where it’s extremely difficult for them to leave, thus setting them up for a high risk of manipulation and abuse

I had a funny childhood because my dad has this standard that I can't be too feminine because "girly girls never focus on studies" also I can't be too masculine "because I'm a girl". It definitely took a toll in me expressing myself and I'm still trying at age 25 :')

It's a bit surprising to hear a talk about this aesthetic without even a mention of Nicki Minaj, and what bimbo-core and Barbie-core specifically means to Black women. Her Barbie aesthetic was a huge deal for a while.

This is so interesting. I never even considered that “dumb blondes” were invented by men who felt threatened. And it makes SOOO much sense 🤯

i remember being called “girly girl” (in a derogatory way) in elementary because i love pink, barbie and things like that. when i think about it it’s crazy how internalized misogyny was taught at such a young age. it took me a while but im now verryyy happy and confident about my feminine side

The saddest part is that I don’t even have to participate in the aesthetic of bimbo core to be perceived as one or objectified. The fact that I am Latina, full busted, and bottom heavy is enough to place me in that category. My entire adult professional life I’ve had to carefully think about my wardrobe and who may feel “offended” by what I’m wearing or how seriously both men and women in the workforce would take me. All this on top of colorism and racism.

I spent so much time not liking feminine things as a child because being feminine was associated with weakness and a bunch more negative traits. I’m glad we started changing up that narrative, even though it was never really true to begin with. I hope we also get to see more women of color in extremely hyper feminine aesthetics and in different forms of media. The strong black woman trope is tired and perpetuates harmful ideas and treatment of us because people think we can handle it. It’s time for us to be ditzy and extremely girly without being called white for it

Although I don’t remember it, when I was in kindergarten I dressed VERY girlie, tons of bracelets stacked on my little arms and such. My mom said I came home crying once because my teacher told me that it was not a “fashion show” for me to dress the way I was dressing. But I was literally a child, dressed mostly by my mother and I just enjoyed excessive jewelry. I don’t know why she had the nerve to make that comment.

I am often not taken seriously. I was interrupted, men often repeat my own words, explain elementary things to me. I'm in the "traditionally masculine field," which is especially hard. in one of the next cases, I asked - why do you treat me like that? the answer was: "if you don't want to be treated like this, cut your hair short, take off your eyelashes, eyebrows, nails, stop wearing make-up" ... I will NEVER stop doing this. fuck patriarchy

As a black woman I can talk as soft as I want, and wear pink exclusively, however I would never be allowed to lean into cosplayed unintelligence and ease. As you said, the visibility is definitely not there, however, even if it was it couldn’t be a “out of the house” practice.