The History of Bimbos
According to the first result on Urban Dictionary, Bimbo is defined as an “attractive, yet stupid woman“, who is usually blonde. After a phone call with my sister, though, I found that Bimbo is fabled to have been derived from the Italian word Bambino, meaning baby, or baby boy, which eventually transformed into a word to describe unintelligent men.
The Backstory
july 2022
Last summer, I started learning how to whitewater kayak and began immersing myself in river culture. Like learning any new skill, I found myself failing often and feeling stupid, which whitewater kayaking enhances [these feelings] with weird, colorful boats, loads of men, and the constant conversation with the current, completely surrendered to the river’s flow. While I spent a lot of time failing, I also spent a lot of time feeling silly. At that time, feeling silly felt better than feeling like a failure.
In these moments of silliness, I began to call myself a bimbo; it felt like the missing puzzle piece to my pulling- up-my-boot-straps experience. Bimbo quickly evolved into River Bimbo, which eventually became a shared identity. A group of us river-novices began to call ourselves River Bimbos, latching to the name, stoked to share our idea with everyone who inquired. Of course, we sometimes received backlash from people who claimed that Bimbo was too far out and maybe even offensive. Thinking about those remarks with intense passion and an array of feelings, I found myself hearing a feminine truth that I had yet to embrace ever before. Without having grown up in the period of time when Bimbo was a true insult, I realize that I have a kind of existential lack of understanding. At that time, though, I only heard words of hesitation from well-meaning men, which I considered through an intersectional lens. Was it our difference in age that sparked their doubt? Or was it something deeper than that? Without conventional research, I continued to ponder River Bimbo, deeply trusting the feminine truth that was my greatest teacher at that time.
Without any seasoned River Bimbos to look up to except for Mother Nature herself, we continued to proceed with river feminism, following our instincts with excitement and passion. I was experiencing an internal feminist revolution that I was externalizing on the river and everywhere else. Cautious voices warning of something we could not perceive only stoked the fire within… I felt angry, excited, and serendipitous. We had conjured up a world of our own: not a girls club, but a silly party, celebrating authenticity. We asked ourselves.
I spent a lot of time considering what River Bimbo meant to me. I had an ongoing conversation in my head-constant dialogue-that once presented itself exactly how I imagined in a poem:
A Year Later
may 2023
A year later, I was existing on a river again. Differently from my last community, I was surrounded by many more feminine people and a diversity of gender identities. As we were training for the summer season at Outward Bound, I continued to advocate River Bimbo, and I continued to be a River Bimbo. In our friendly outdoor education environment, I wanted to formally define River Bimbo, as a concept, to my coworkers and peers. With my friend and fellow River Bimbo, we created a lesson plan.
We began with my sharing of the backstory, highlighting a specific moment of when I felt bimboed on the river last summer. I recalled feeling stupid and angry and silly for even feeling that way in the first place, explaining to our listeners. We then asked small groups to share about a moment they had felt bimboed, hoping to create a shared experience and an alignment with the concept.
We explained that being a River Bimbo is the act of authenticity intersecting with outdoor enthusiasm and recreation. We elaborated that sometimes authenticity in an outdoor space, as a person who does not identify as the majority, is often be mistaken for a lack of knowledge, connecting with a more widely familiar definition of Bimbo: a femme with a lack of brains. This niche idea, in collaboration with the effects of the patriarchy, also highlights on the dangers of bimboing in the outdoor world, specifically in the lens of risk management. We continued explaining, including the celebration of all styles Bimbo: the Rock Bimbo, the Alpine Bimbo, the River Bimbo. They’re all in Vogue.
Following our presentation, we concluded our lesson with a short discussion of the new perception of the word. We experienced a variety of feedback, from yes to yucky, and were asked questions about our claim and reclaim on this word. Was it ours to say and identify with? Considering the generational lack of understanding, I was left unsure of myself, feeling ironically bimboed. Although I has been intentional with my style of lesson, timing, and audience, I still felt as if I had not constructed the concept well enough. Instead of feeling angry or stupid, as I had expected of myself, I felt sad. My identity felt shaken and disapproved of, and I felt in trouble.
I was asked if I would share my lesson with our teenage students-the students we were training and preparing for-and I had before thought I would, as I’m thinking of children idyllically, with boundary-less minds. My vision made sense to me, of course. Sharing River Bimbo is my intention, but suddenly, it felt wrong. I cried and did not share River Bimbo again yet.
Some people, to whom we presented, suggested continuing with the idea, but without the branding of River Bimbo. The name, though, is too intentional and intersected with the concept, and I felt it would be wrong to go on without. I have a sticker on my water bottle that says River Bimbo, and I often get asked about it. Every time, I am able to share ideas with whoever asks, strengthening my perception of what River Bimbo is and what River Bimbo can be. The name River Bimbo itself provokes wonder and emotion, I like to believe. In a world within a world that almost seems to be kept in order by the domination of clone-style men, River Bimbo is supposed to be here to empower our authenticity and spark dialogue of what is possible.
The Future of Bimbo
october 2023
What comes next, I’m not sure. My goal is to create a space for people to be simultaneously authentic and taken seriously, to be silly and to be trusted. I will take River Bimbo wherever I go, as it now intersects with my personality. To me, River Bimbo is a revolution, a concept, a project, and a question am so excited to see where it goes. I am curious about your opinion of River Bimbo. As always, my email is bubolzsal@gmail.com and the comment section is a place for you.
This idea is so dear to me, as it has become a conglomeration of people and ideas that I love and an ongoing prayer for a culture shift. I believe, with hesitation, that now is the time to reclaim this word (as it happens before our eyes). Without my previous knowledge, thoughts of re-using Bimbo have been has before. Letty Cottin Pogrebin, co-founder of Ms. (as in the title) considered using the word Bimbo instead. Because of the strength of the patriarchy at that time, ironically using a word affiliated with dragging on the feminine population to describe the feminine population was not feasible at that time. I find so much power in this fact, sent to me by a friend, because these days I respond when people call me Bimbo. Now seems like the time to celebrate Bimbos. Like Mary Oliver said, “the world offers itself to your imagination,” so…