An introduction to Bimbollectual

Thank you for subscribing to this newsletter. Here's a quick introduction!

Hello and welcome!

I’ve gotten a lot of new subscribers in the past week or so. Perhaps some of you know me from my time in Japan. A few may be interested in the organizing I’ve done on sex workers’ rights. 

The purpose of my starting this newsletter is to keep a regular and consistent blog. I’ve been an avid Twitter user for the past decade and appreciate the micro-blogging format. Yet there are some things that 140 characters just can’t convey. I’ve been blogging on and off with various websites since I was about ten years old. As someone who is terribly socially awkward, it’s been my go-to method to convey my thoughts to the world.

Me

My name is Amina and I live in Sunny San Francisco. I’ve had a small but steady following online since I was a teenager. I love creating content and connecting with people. I’m autistic and my special interest is humans. I’m currently writing a book with Jake Adelstein.

My past jobs have included: retail clerk, cosplay cafe maid, J-pop idol, sex worker, and influencer. I don’t ascribe to any “ism”, besides Bimbo-ism, and I am against dogmatic thinking. With that said I’m obviously pro-human rights. If you’re open to having your beliefs challenged (as I am), then we’ll get along.

Photo by Ella Jardim on Unsplash

Theme

I describe Bimbollectual as a digital shrine to femininity. The name itself is funny to me. When I worked as an idol in Japan my manager nicknamed me “Interi-kei Burikko” which basically means an intellectual airhead. This is because I spoke/(sometimes still speak) in a high-pitched voice and have a wardrobe with only mini-skirts. Yet I also spoke about social issues which is a huge no-no in Japan, particularly for pop idols. 

So I translated that nickname as Bimbollectual. The name also serves as a commentary on our wider society. It conveys the feeling I want to give with my writing. The fact that my intellectuality is surprising to anyone is misogyny. Women are not allowed to be feminine, sexual, subversive, and intelligent. We have to walk a very narrow tightrope between the physical appearance of middle-class subdued femininity and taking on the worst parts of masculinity to progress professionally. 

With that said, don’t expect Einstein-level hot takes. I read, I have some basic education and I consider myself clever. More than anything — I’m inside my head too much.

In this newsletter you will find: thoughts on sex workers’ rights, personal essays, thoughts on femininity/gender/dating and whatever interests me at the time (Japanese pop culture, American society, science fiction, boob jobs) Please feel free to contact me here or anywhere else if there’s something specific you’d like me to write about.

Grammar

As “intellectual” as I am, I’m not always keen on grammar. I’ll try my best to edit / correct things. I apologize in advance. Please correct me if you see any glaring errors. I oscillate between American and British spellings of English at times.

Frequency

I anticipate writing content here twice a week at the very least. Ideally, I’d like to produce more however 1) I don’t want to spam your inboxes, and 2) I want to produce quality.

Future

I have big ideas but I always have big ideas. I make YouTube content, but I’d like to try doing more varied content on Substack in a perfect world. In the meantime, I’ll just keep it to writing and then add things later. Just an FYI — there will always be a free version of most of my content. If I ever decide to monetize it will be once I know I can promise quality content consistently.