On Tuesday, Tech became the latest site of the trendy performative male competitions that have popped up on campuses and in cities across the country. Dozens of matcha and Laufey-loving Jackets gathered outside the Campanile Fountain in the late morning to flaunt their performative male fashion and mindset in front of an audience of over 200.
The performative male is a Gen Z archetype defined by wearing thrifted clothing, showily listening to bedroom pop and maintaining faux sympathy for those who subscribe to feminist ideals. The Instagram meme accounts @onlywillage and @gt.girlblogger hosted the contest, which quickly amassed a large following of invested students on social media.
“People started DMing me and I had around 60 or 70 DMs of people asking me, ‘I wanna register for this,’” said Mr. Willage, the persona who runs the @onlywillage Instagram account. “It was a huge turnout. I was not expecting that many people to come, and it was a lot of fun.”
Tech joins several schools across the country, including Duke University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Yale University, which have also held performative male contests. Outside of academia, various organizers have held similar events in public parks from San Francisco to New York City.
The rules, prizes and execution of these competitions vary. At Tech, judges graded performative male hopefuls on their style, accessories, pose and overall performance. Competitors lined up along the edge of the fountain and walked from one side to the other, showing off their outfits. Some competitors went as far as chanting feminist platitudes or tossing period products to the cheering crowd during their catwalk.
Aaron Trinh, third-year CS, took home first place. His love for women inspired him to join the contest.
“I just love women. I love supporting women,” Trinh said. “I was raised by a strong woman. My mom is an immigrant war refugee from Vietnam, so I had to come out and show my love for women.”
The crowning feature of Trinh’s outfit was the circumference of Labubus attached to his belt, which held up baggy jeans. Trinh carried a poster featuring images of famous women, including Rosa Parks and Michelle Obama, and typed statements including “women empowerment” and “end periods.”
“This is my vision board,” Trinh said. “Some goals of mine and some strong women I look up to.”
Many competitors wore similarly elaborate outfits, with some common accessories: wired headphones, a worn copy of feminist literature in hand and tote bags on their shoulders. If participants were not listening to music on headphones, they appeared prepared to make their own music, with several carrying guitars or other instruments.
Even Tech’s beloved mascot, Buzz, tossed his hat in the ring, wearing baggy jeans and carrying a matcha. But, the most prolific performative males did not stop at fashion — many took the archetype a step further, embodying the performative male persona.
“I’m all here for all of us being here for the women,” said Christopher Leonard, second-year CS. “I think it’s so important that we are all here in this time to show off and to perform.”
The performative male’s ostentatious display of feminism and curated taste and aesthetic is prototypically an attempt to make himself more appealing to progressive women. Among these superficial interests is a love for female musical artists. As such, a hot topic among the crowd and competitors alike was the Laufey: A Matter of Time Tour concert slated for later in the day at State Farm Arena.
“I got the pre-sale concert ticket,” said Brady Smith, first-year ME and performative male competitor. “I’m going to be at Laufey’s concert tonight.”
After strutting across the competition stage, many competitors paused before the judges announced the winner to talk to other contestants. Some participants compared accessories and the contents of their tote bags, while others jammed out to performative male anthems like “Bags” by Clairo on a Bluetooth speaker.
Though the contest had concluded after merely half an hour, it was packed with excitement, shallow feminism and tongue-in-cheek jabs at this laughable archetype.