You know what a bimbo is, time to meet the himbo

[Discovereads]

Hilarious but thought provoking article on himbos and their attraction for even feminist women:

Spray tan, short shorts and not a care in the world: my quest to have a big, dim himbo summer by Tim Jonze of the Guardian

Few key points:

“To be a himbo in 2022, having a great tan and a low IQ is not enough – you must be entirely lacking in guile, free from jealousy and immune to bad vibes.”

”A himbo is a guy that is handsome, muscular and – crucially – not smart enough to manipulate or gaslight the people around him,” says Ashley Ogawa Clarke, the deputy editor of men’s style and grooming bible Mr Porter. “Essentially, it’s an ideal of masculinity without the threatening toxicity: a hunk with a heart, or a Love Island contestant with fewer red flags.”

”There have been some huge cultural shifts around toxic masculinity that have meant the time is right to rewrite the rules on what makes for a decent bloke. For decades, films and TV shows portrayed the archetypal nerd as heroic, a kind of safe space for women who were being treated badly by jocks. But these days nerds – with their “incel” message boards and mansplaining tendencies – are at least as toxic as any other guy, if not more so. The himbo acts as a counterpoint – a return to traditional masculine sexiness (muscles, tan), but with the more problematic aspects stripped out. Himbos are an oasis of kindness in an era where cruelty is at a premium.

Himbos’ moment on the sunbed might also come from the way nerds have seized the mechanisms of power and made the world so unfathomably complex that its workings can seem beyond the grasp of us mere mortals these days. Rather than try to solve impossible riddles such as climate change and housing bubbles, himbos seem to have got it figured out by simply living in the moment, blissful in their ignorance of the world’s many woes.”

Rest at
www.theguardian.com/fashion/2022/aug/06/big-dumb-himbo-summer-jack-grealish-love-island

I think MN OPs should start apologising for Guardian links in the same way they do for Daily Mail links.

I'm not going to bother reading that tbh, suffice to say I find the term Himbo as disgustingly sexist and insulting as I do Bimbo for women.

What about GQ links? here’s what they say about the Himbo. Worth a read as seems to be one way you get a man with no toxic masculinity or mansplaining attributes:

”This is the himbo’s speciality: his good deeds come without motive. He’s not just nice because he wants to sleep with you, or to get a promotion, but because he’s an empathetic soul and it’s the right thing to do. A himbo is trusting and goes with his instincts, usually from a place of optimism. A himbo always believes in the science, even if he doesn’t understand it, and if he’s ever unkind or misleading it’s unintentional and he recants almost immediately. He deals with the consequences of his own actions, once they’re explained to him. The key to embracing himboism is not to feel resentful at not being the sharpest tool in the box or feel shame at your incompetence, but be glad your simple soul is free of malevolence or envy – other than the endearing, light jealousy that comes from wishing you looked as good in Speedos as another himbo sitting two sunloungers away. Not 100 per cent down with being objectified as a sexy dumbass? I get it. Shift the stupidity slightly to a kind of… innocence. It’s not about lacking intelligence or common sense, more that their thoughts are as yet unsullied by the cynicism and toxic opinions that make him a man to be wary of. The himbo is unthreatening because he doesn’t feel threatened himself – he’s secure enough in his masculinity not to act entitled or lash out when challenged. As MEL’s Miles Klee explains: “These gentle oafs are a special breed, too innocent to hurt out of malice or insecurity, too serene in their size and strength to even start a war of words… He dreams not of acquisition and conquest, as his humble imagination leans toward the basic comforts: a home gym, nice friends, grilled dinners and an energetic dog.” A himbo isn’t just remarkable for what he is, but who he isn’t. He’s not an evil mastermind, a brilliant genius, a coercive bully or a disrespectful fuckboy. He may not be the man you want on your quiz team, but he’s the guy you want in your squad when stuff needs doing. Moving house, settling down with a boxset, shed building, pepping up your wedding photos because all your other groomsmen look like Gollum’s reflection in the back of a teaspoon. That kind of thing. Dependable, no hidden agenda. Fallible, but not afraid to admit it or make things right.”
www.gq-magazine.co.uk/lifestyle/article/himbo-meaning

I think himbos rock. That article really made me smile. Also, randomly enough, my mind strayed to the fonz. Much better than most of the men we get to read about.

Why does normal bloody behaviour for a human being have to be packaged up and written about like some article in a teens magazine?? Weird. Reducing people to stereotypes, whether female or male, is not a feminist approach.