From labubus, to matcha lattes, to dubai chocolate, to feminist literature, to wired headphones— the performative male epidemic is taking over the internet and school communities in mass— even here, at Eleanor Roosevelt High School. Popular amongst youth, the phrase “performative male” is someone who pretends to be progressive to look cooler to others, not because of the morals behind progressivism. However, the caricature has reshaped itself into someone who listens to “feminine music,” pretends to be a feminist, and likes “niche” things to appeal to women. But the reality is that the trends that help people identify performative males can be problematic. Labubus (plush keychains sold by Pop Mart) are being resold for hundreds of dollars, matcha prices are soaring due to shortages of the tea, eight dollar brownies are all over the internet, and contests are being held in various cities and college campuses to see who is the most performative are pushing overconsumption, promoting capitalism, inducing FOMO, and distracting from the real purpose of feminism and progressive movements.

The performative male trend itself is a drastic shift from the typical gender expectations for men. Throughout history, men have been expected to be strong, contain emotions, and exemplify a nonchalant persona. This has maintained steady throughout the years, but recently, the performative male trend has been pushing back on these societal norms. At first, the trend was tame: TikToks began circling on social media where men would exaggerate their emotions as a joke. These videos went viral, and added fuel to the fire. Suddenly, the trend was everywhere. Men were wearing tote bags, listening to Clairo on vinyl, and ghosting women after lovebombing and being emotionally vulnerable with them. These men who claimed to be “in touch with their feminine side” were beginning to do more harm than good. Rachel Samuel, senior, says that “performative male trends lessen the seriousness of progressivism because it’s just built on the mockery of two separate groups for what they enjoy, and I think there’s no way to progress if we’re constantly just mocking men and women for enjoying things that are considered feminine. What makes feminine things like dressing a certain way or listening to a certain type of music so funny that when a man does it, it’s considered something that can be mocked?” She also enforces that “women’s issues are the easiest to undermine and push aside which is super discouraging.”

Although the true meaning of a performative male is typically considered negatively, the trend has been bringing people together. Brandon Mata, a senior at Eleanor Roosevelt, believes that “the societal impact of this trend is overall a positive.. as it pushes away from the traditional gender norms which find young men turning to those alpha male podcasters we saw [trending] last year because young men felt lost with their own masculinity.” Mata recognizes that the trend is typically considered negatively, but “for as much as a detriment it is to say guys who genuinely like things like matcha and Clairo or Faye Webster, it’s more of a net positive for men.” The trend was also used here at school during ERHS’ homecoming spirit week, with one of the days being “Final Boss Day,” where students commonly dressed up as a “performative male final boss,” rocking indie-esque outfits, matchas, and carrying books like The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. Contests to see who is the most performative have been happening at college campuses all around the United States, even at the local University of Maryland College Park campus. About a week into the semester, a performative male contest held by the Twisted Terps occurred at UMD’s McKeldin Mall, where students acted the most performative as possible in order to win twenty-five dollars.

The things that make people recognize performative men, however, are causing a very large increase in overconsumption and pushing capitalistic trends. One of the most popular ways to buy labubus is through PopMart pop-up shops, one of which is located in Annapolis Mall. However, the toys are almost always sold out, which makes it hard to get your hands on one of the toys. Therefore, two common solutions to this problem emerged: knock-offs, and reselling. Third-party shops have been copying the designs of labubus and selling them in order to make a profit. According to Variety, resellers on websites are reselling the plush dolls for upwards of $700. On the other hand, matcha, a green tea imported from eastern Asia, is experiencing a shortage due to the 86% increase in sales here in the United States, according to The Atlantic. Vincent Chen, a senior here at ERHS, comments that “matcha and tea culture have.. seen a rise since the performative trend started.” Dubai chocolate has also been trending, with one of the most popular takes of it being the “Dubai Chocolate Brownie” from Crumbl. People indulging in the trend have been paying eight dollars for a brownie because of the popularity it brings. Aaliyah Jamison, a senior at ERHS who works at Crumbl, says that “Working at Crumbl during Dubai Brownie and Dubai Cheesecake was the most annoying thing ever. I’ve tried both and I can’t lie, the brownie is 100% better than the cheesecake, but they both don’t taste good enough for people to be getting mad and going crazy over it.” She says that “having to prepare what felt like hundreds of them before “Dubai Weeks” was insane and since Dubai chocolate is mostly popular among the younger generation, we’d get people making their order names the weirdest, most brain rotted stuff.” Jamison comments that If it was called “chocolate pistachio brownie”, not many would buy it, it’s just the name. I think people are just bored and anytime something they’re not used to (usually it’s things from other cultures) is “discovered”, they take it over and sometimes even call it a new name, creating a false cool or specialness to a completely regular item.”

Overall, the performative male trend has its pros and cons, but it is important to understand where this trend comes from and who is participating in it before immersing yourself. Make sure to be mindful of why you are participating in trends, and remember that it is cool to portray yourself the way you want to— not because of what someone else may like better.