When I hear the phrase “performative male,” I have an immediate mental picture and it is 100% incorrect. In my mind’s eye, I see a roided-up jock bro, pockets full of crypto and head full of red pills, sweating masculinity and totally optimized for being macho as [expletive deleted].
This could not be farther from what the phrase means to Zoomers, who use it to call out men exhibiting supposedly attention-seeking, woman-adjacent behavior: the reading of books by female authors, the wearing of a little bit of chipped nail polish, the drinking of iced matcha lattes, and the carrying of totes that can hold both Clairo on vinyl and a prominently attached Labubu. These guys, the assumption holds, are putting on a little act, and if you’re a gal aged 17-28 or so, you’d better watch out.
Kyndall Cunningham breaks down the archetype and looks more closely at what happens when we slot real people into silly and amusing but potentially narrow ideas. Is it all fun and contests, or does dismissing some young men as “performative” make connecting that much harder in an already cold world?
If you would like to support Vox’s independent journalism, please consider becoming a Vox Member today.
—Meredith Haggerty, senior editor
