He drinks matcha, listens to Clairo and carries around feminist literature — or at least looks like he does. The internet calls him a “performative male,” and on Sept. 30 , University of Nevada, Reno students competed to see who faked it the best.
Organized by Generation Action at Nevada, the group is trying to make a point about the difference between online performance and real advocacy behind the flannels, baggy jeans and wired headphones. Generation Action at Nevada is a student advocacy group for Planned Parenthood and focuses on reproductive rights and women’s health.
What exactly is a performative male? A performative male is an internet meme that has become viral on social media, and it can be described as an archetype of man.
A performative male’s sole purpose is to impress women. This means they carefully curate their aesthetic which can include outfits, the music they listen to and their reading material.
The contest was held outside the Joe Crowley Student Union, and featured students putting on their best performative male act. Contestants came armed with tote bags, vinyls that won’t ever touch a record player and matcha lattes in hand. Free matcha and doughnuts were also provided.
Asma Baloch, an organizer with the club, said that the best way to do this was to play on the irony of performative activism.
“It’s all fun and games, but it’s also important to actually take action,” Baloch said. “It’s one thing to post about something, but it’s another thing to advocate for it. I also feel like it’s a great opportunity to show people how much activism can have an impact especially at UNR.”
Roughly 100 students showed up to the contest either to observe or to participate. Student Andy Hinchliffe was one of the contestants, and had a keychain attached to her pants with a Labubu on it, a hat that read “F*** period cramps” and a book with “Feminist Literature” written in red marker on the cover. She felt pretty good about how she looked.
“I thought it would be fun just competing in something and getting myself out there,” Hinchliffe said. “I’ve studied performative men a lot on Instagram reels and stuff, and felt qualified enough to participate in the competition.”
Each contestant was asked a question, mostly related to women’s reproductive health. The contestants either answered the question correctly, or they’d improvise an answer to get a laugh from the crowd.
To determine who was the most performative male, the judges had the contestants line up, and each one would step in front of the crowd. The judges selected the five contestants who received the most applause from the crowd, and asked them another round of questions. Based on the answers for those final questions, the top five was narrowed down to a first, second and third place winner.
Student Gavin Toop was the first place winner of the contest, and he insisted that this performance was actually everyday life for him.
“Personally, it’s not a performance for me,” Toop said. “I do this every day. Every day I wake up and think about what my mom would do.”
The top three winners received tote bags filled with prizes like T-shirts and stickers.
While the contest was full of jokes, in essence, a joke, Generation Action at Nevada hopes the message behind it sticks longer than a trend.
Nick Stewart can be reached at ns@sagebrush.unr.edu or on Instagram @nickk_stewart_.
