On Sep. 5, 2025, Temple University students organized a “performative male competition.” It all started with a post on Yik Yak about a week prior, which was followed by an Instagram post on an account named “temple.luvs.performative.males.” The post consisted of a poster with a photo of matcha, a Labubu, Beabadoobee, Clairo, Laufey, and Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking. There were also photos of Temple’s mascot, Hooter, edited to make it appear as if he was holding matcha and a tote bag.
Prior to these “performative” competitions, there were celebrity look-alike contests, which have similar motifs of community building through a seemingly playful event, bringing strangers together through common interest in a public setting. These events are so significant and important to Gen Z because they create a space for discourse and entertainment in a generation where there’s a lack of third spaces that are affordable, fun, and low pressure.
I’m sure you or your friends have had a run-in with a performative male: the matcha-drinking, Clairo-loving guy who seems like the man of your dreams. The concept of a “performative male” is a man who appeals to women through commonality. They find out women’s interests and performatively make them their own.
An example of a performative male would be a man saying he listens to a popular female artist, such as Clairo or Beabadoobee, not because he actually likes their music, but because he knows that he’ll attract women who listen to them. Not every man who listens to Clairo, Beabadoobee, and other popular female artists are performative, but the aesthetic is generally associated with them. Another thing associated with performative males is matcha, which there was plenty of at this competition.
When I first saw the post on Yik Yak, I thought it seemed like a silly competition and decided to attend with my friends. There were a lot more people in attendance than I thought there would be. While the competition itself was silly, there was some thought put into the event. The “temple.luvs.performative.males” Instagram account made a post prior to the event to make it known that they would be collecting donations for Women Against Abuse during the event. They captioned the post “let’s ensure women everywhere have necessities, no matter their circumstance.” They collected items such as feminine hygiene products, books, and toiletries during the event.
At 4 p.m., Temple students formed a crowd around the skate park where the men participating stood on a raised platform holding signs, posters, albums, books, tote bags, and matcha, wearing outfits that exuded the aesthetic of a performative male. Performative men typically have an artsy, fashion-guy aesthetic: baggy jeans, baby tees, and bandanas. One participant was silent and held up a sign that said, “Taking a vow of silence because of period cramps.”
Other participants held up CDs and vinyls such as Clairo’s album Immunity. Some of the books they were holding included Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar and Why Men Love B*tches by Sherry Argov. One participant even threw tampons out to the crowd. They were asked a series of questions and eliminated based on their answers. The winner won matcha-flavored snacks, a tote bag, and a Labubu.
I interviewed the winner of the competition, a Temple junior named Caleb Brutus. I asked Brutus a few questions relating to what inspired him to participate, and if he felt there were any deeper messages to gain from this competition as a whole.
Her Campus: What made you want to compete in the performative male competition?
Caleb Brutus: A lot of my friends kept telling me to do it. I got convinced when one said they didn’t want to see their ex win it.
HC: What do you think it means to be a performative male?
CB: It’s really in the name. It’s a performance, not true to who you actually are. And that’s usually shown through appearance to cater to women’s attention, like carabiners, labubus, non-prescription glasses, baby tees, anything really to make you stand out and appear to not be the average man.
HC: What do you think helped you to win?
CB: I think my outfit helped me get a lot of attention, but it was definitely what I talked about that got me through it all. Straight up just real events happening in America specifically with Trump and ICE. I really just took the moment to speak on how horrible the things they’re doing really are. With such a big platform in my face, it felt like the only right thing to do.”
HC: Do you think there’s a deeper message to gain from this competition? Do you think this competition at Temple and other college campus’s opened conversation for the topic of performative males?
CB: I do think the performative shtick is funny, but it is a bit harmful to the people that do actually enjoy the things like matcha, public readings, and whatever else. It kind of hurts the idea of trying new things or branching out. They’ll see it and say, ‘oh wow they’re just doing it for attention.’ I got a lot of inspiration on the idea from my friend’s Substack, and she said, ‘It is not enough to do something, but it has to be done in a way that can be observed, consumed, approved of.’ It just stuck out a lot to me, but other than that I think these are great light-hearted fun community gatherings that we really need with everything else going on.
Brutus took the competition out of its context to address relevant topics and issues taking place right now in the United States; overall, counteracting the “performative male” with authenticity.
All around the U.S., college campuses are partaking in these competitions, gaining inspiration from one another, and bringing students together. I saw a TikTok a few weeks ago about Sarah Lawerence College having a “performative masc” competition, and Temple decided to have one as well on Sep. 12. These performative competitions are creating a sense of unity and fun for youth in college at a time when it is deeply needed. It will be interesting to see if this trend will continue in years to come and, if so, what contests will come next.