Abstract
This study adopts a multimodal approach to critical discourse analysis to unpack the discourses embedded in the performance of hyper-feminine bimbo identities on TikTok. Guided by a social semiotic approach to language, this study analyses a corpus of 16 short-form videos published by self-proclaimed ‘bimbos’ on TikTok, focusing on the lexical and iconographical choices of these texts and how they function contextually to signal broader discourses. This analysis reveals that TikTok influencers frequently reinforce hegemonic norms of gender by incorporating bodily signifiers of patriarchal Eurocentric ideals of femininity and linking signifiers of overconsumption and hyper-femininity in their performance of a bimbo identity. Simultaneously, they contest these hegemonic norms by juxtaposing hyper-feminine images with critiques of patriarchal, Eurocentric, and capitalist structures of inequality. Ultimately, the subversive potential of these representations is ambivalent; there is a marked tension between their stated aims of inclusion and empowerment and the intersection of hyper-femininity with privilege.
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