The idea of the “Performative Male” is one that’s been gaining popularity over the past few years, especially as culture and society’s perceptions of masculinity are starting to change. This new persona takes with them a distinct new vibe and set of approaches. Their aim is to create a cutting edge, emotionally intelligent, progressive-like shield. The Performative Male is usually clad in heroic fit. He designs an exaggerated blown-up sartorial vocabulary of accessories, choosing aggressively decorative pieces like viv W chrome hearts necklaces and tote bags plastered with feminist and queer epithets.
This latter trend points to a deeply consequential cultural change. It reacts unabashedly to the toxicity of toxic masculinity and the ascendant discourse of the patriarchy being challenged. At the same time, a 2023 national poll found that almost half of U.S. men believe traditional masculinity is on the defensive. Consequently, some are hoping to understand new avenues to reclaim their identity. The Performative Male tackles this complicated terrain with wisdom and grace. Through aggressive imagery, he leads us down the path of performance over true understanding or conviction.
Additionally, Performative Males often quote feminist texts, like Angela Davis’s Women, Race & Class, in their conversations with each other. Their substantive engagement isn’t that substantive. They would be highly likely to read Sally Rooney’s novels, but rarely know their inner workings. This new act is representative of a larger trend. Instead, people are increasingly curating their identities through selective performances – often designed for virality – to win favor and attention, particularly from women.
In a notable TikTok video, a Performative Male showcases his musical talent by playing Beyoncé’s “Run the World (Girls)” on a ukulele, a choice that encapsulates the persona’s attempt to align with feminist ideals while maintaining a playful distance from their seriousness. This performance underscores the Performative Male’s duality: striving for a progressive image while potentially lacking depth in understanding the issues they superficially embrace.
“My best description of a performative male is a man who wears feminism and softness and certain music as a guy to allure women without actually knowing anything about what they’re putting on or talking about.” – Lanna Rain
The Performative Male often claims familiarity with iconic authors like Joan Didion, but they may hold the book upside down during discussions, further illustrating their performative nature. They will love the sounds of Lana Del Rey and Joni Mitchell. Their understanding of these musicians’ work tends to be pretty surface-level.
Accessories go a long way toward completing the Performative Male’s aesthetic too. Labubu dolls are a common presence within this demographic, and exemplify their curated look. Social media serves as their principal platform to maintain an air of “wokeness.” By doing so, it gives them the power to create stories that challenge the status quo and help men move forward from toxic masculinity.
Eugene Healey notes that “the men making this content do have these haircuts, do listen to Clairo, they do rock a small top, big pant, tote bag combo and in an effort to get ahead of their own reputational issues they have to prove that they’re above it.” This declaration serves to remind us of the persistent fight for realness against performance. Too often, the Performative Males just pretend to be self-aware about all their bad behavior. Instead this awareness often simply becomes another aspect of their performance art, rather than being converted into actionable change.
“Self-awareness doesn’t free us from performance, it just adds another layer to it.” – Eugene Healey
In our latest Faces of Engineering feature, Dr. Ashley Morgan helps explain this phenomenon. For all its limitations, the Performative Male finds new ways of expressing masculinity through creativity and vulnerability, while still focusing on performance. They are hyper-observant because they know that everyone else is “monitoring, measuring, and devouring” their masculinity. Consequently, they find themselves needing to perform their masculinity for others to observe.
As traditional notions of masculinity fade, men are looking for alternative models to establish their identity. J’Nae Phillips emphasizes that “a performative male is less about who someone is than about how they curate and project masculinity in public – usually online.” This view sheds light on the ways performance is central to contemporary masculinity. It encourages men to find alternative ways to be themselves without feeling like they have to conform to social norms.
“As traditional gender roles dissolve, men look for new scripts to inhabit, and performance offers a way to experiment with them publicly.” – Phillips
The Performative Male isn’t interested in mere self-expression. He wants to look good — like a progressive, women-attracting stud muffin — while doing it. Marcus Jernigan encapsulates this sentiment by stating, “To me a performative male is a man who partakes in certain activities or listens to a certain genre of music with the intention of attracting women.” This desire casts the Performative Male’s move as tactical, if still expressive.
Critics contend that this new trend focuses more on the optics than actual comprehension or involvement. The worst part is that the desire to be seen as “woke” wins out over any pursuit of genuine engagement with feminist ideas or societal problems. As a result, Performative Male may fall into the trap of upholding stereotypes instead of breaking them down.