What began as a simple joke on social media, the phrase “I’m just a girl,” took little time to spiral out of control. Most popular on TikTok, the trend has spanned over the last few years, originally starting as a way for girls and women to poke fun at themselves and embrace gender stereotypes, such as bad driving, overconsumption, airheaded moments, financial dependence on men and so much more. Despite the trend starting in a fun, light-hearted manner, it quickly took a turn for the worse — leading women online to popularize phrases such as “girl math,” “girl dinner” or more extremes like “I didn’t ask for the right to work” and so on.
Although at first, some of these jokes seem harmless — or perhaps as a way for women to “reclaim” stereotypes that have been labeled on them for centuries — they pose a detrimental issue: regression. It may come off as more offensive when men say phrases like “You’re just a girl,” to women, but it is more harmful that women are putting themselves in these boxes. It is reminiscent of the famous line in “Mean Girls” when the character Ms. Norbury says “You all have got to stop calling each other sl-ts and wh-res. It just makes it okay for guys to call you sl-ts and wh-res.”
Young women have to speak more highly of themselves and expect more of themselves if they want to pave a better path for their generation and those to come. Saying these regressive statements is a subtle beginning to a darker picture: women are going back in time, and many are doing so willingly. Younger generations are showing no gratitude to the women who came before and fought for their rights. More importantly, it appears that younger generations are not fighting as passionately as those who came before, but rather, through a phone screen.
Although digital activism has been successful in raising awareness, online movements come and go the same way trends do. This was apparent with the 2020 “Black Lives Matter” movement, a spirited movement on social media platforms that sparked protests, petitions and more, but quickly died off by the end of summer, as if systemic racism did too.
What example is Gen Z setting for younger girls who want to be just like them? “Girl math” is a way to justify reckless spending while “girl dinner” is a way to normalize unhealthy eating habits. More recently, women have made remarks about turning their brains off while being with their boyfriends or have made childlike videos of coloring while their boyfriends do their “big boy work.” All of these videos not only embrace stereotypes, but regressive gender roles. It is the introduction to bimbo feminism.
A term mostly heard online that stems from “bimbo,” “a derogatory term, referring to a girl who is [hyper feminine], hypersexual and unintelligent. Bimbo feminism, therefore, is the idea that it’s okay to be a bimbo.” Elizabeth Lee, a writer at the University of California Santa Barbara, said. While some parts of this are not inherently negative, as bimbo feminism reinforces the idea that femininity is not wrong or shameful — justifying ignorance and unintelligence from anyone is too far.
Young women should not be taking this path or limiting themselves to gender roles and stereotypes. To poke fun at oneself is one thing, to make trends that gather thousands or millions to bask in harmful narratives is entirely another, especially behind the shield of bimbo feminism. Women across generations did not fight for centuries for Gen Z to say they turn off their brains in a male’s presence — and call it trust — or come up with “girl dinner,” to hide eating disorders behind the mask of gender.
There is nothing wrong with femininity, but to take it to the opposite end of the spectrum and thrive in an array of sexist jokes — especially those made by women — is ridiculous. Being a woman should not be limited to shopping, bad driving, financial dependence and other popularized stereotypes. Women did not fight for their rights for this behavior.
