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Nearly 50 UNF students competed in the performative male contest on Sept. 17.
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Contestants introduced themselves to the crowd and answered questions from the UNF VSA announcers.
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Hundreds of UNF students came out to watch Wednesday’s event on the Green.
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The event featured 2–4 announcers from the UNF Vietnamese Student Association.
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Hundreds of UNF students came out to watch Wednesday’s event on the Green.
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Nearly 50 UNF students competed in the performative male contest on Sept. 17.
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Hundreds of UNF students came out to watch Wednesday’s event on the Green.
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Some contestants danced, read feminist poetry aloud or performed other “performative male” activites for the crowd. One contestant stomped on his matcha latte and indie vinyls before walking away from the center of the green.
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Some contestants danced, read feminist poetry aloud or performed other “performative male” activities for the crowd. One contestant stomped on his matcha latte and indie vinyls before walking away from the center of the green.
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Contestants introduced themselves to the crowd and answered questions from the UNF VSA announcers.
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Contestants introduced themselves to the crowd and answered questions from the UNF VSA announcers.
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The event featured 2–4 announcers from the UNF Vietnamese Student Association.
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Contestants introduced themselves to the crowd and answered questions from the UNF VSA announcers.
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Some contestants danced, read feminist poetry aloud or performed other “performative male” activities for the crowd. One kneeled, holding his matcha latte to the sky in triumph.
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Contestants introduced themselves to the crowd and answered questions from the UNF VSA announcers.
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Contestants introduced themselves to the crowd and answered questions from the UNF VSA announcers.
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Nearly 50 UNF students competed in the performative male contest on Sept. 17.
He’s emotionally sensitive. He wears jeans so baggy they defy the laws of physics. Every morning, he packs his canvas tote bag with a copy of Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar and his Clairo cassette, and when asked, he tells people he got both from a local vendor—but really, he purchased them at a Barnes & Noble.
He is the “performative male.” And he recently made a special appearance at the University of North Florida.
On Wednesday, the UNF Green was flooded with hundreds of students who came to watch others compete in a “performative male” contest. The contest had nearly 50 student competitors and was hosted by the UNF Vietnamese Student Association.
With matcha lattes, indie vinyls and Labubus in hand, the contestants introduced themselves to the crowd and answered announcers’ questions for a chance to win the esteemed title of “No. 1 Period Hater.”
The announcers asked contestants questions such as, “How do you feel about women?” and “What are your thoughts on period cramps?”
When asked to introduce himself to the crowd, one contestant said, “My name isn’t what’s important. What’s important is all the women here tonight!”
A performative male, according to the New York Times, is someone who inauthentically “curates his aesthetic in a way that he thinks might render him more likable to progressive women.” The viral social media archetype has inspired several performative male contests at college campuses across the state and country.
Cameron Jewell, a freshman psychology major at UNF, was watching in the crowd Wednesday evening. Jewell defined a performative male as “a guy who does something for the ‘female gaze.’”
“They kind of just pretend to like things to get women to like them. Guys who act like how they think women want them to act,” Jewell said.
Jewell said she attended the event out of curiosity but then saw that some of her friends were competing in the event.
“It’s been entertaining,” Jewell said.
Myah Monix, a junior studying history, said she’s seen the performative male contest trend on social media and was surprised to see such a large turnout at UNF.
“Because this is such a small school… it’s fun to see how many people came out.”
The event’s announcers directed the crowd to their Instagram to vote for their favorite performative male. The winner? A contestant dressed in a full-body pink Labubu costume.
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Students voted via Google Form for their favorite performative male. A contestant wearing a full-body pink Labubu suit was elected the winner.
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Students voted via Google Form for their favorite performative male. A contestant wearing a full-body pink Labubu suit was elected the winner.
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Students voted via Google Form for their favorite performative male. A contestant wearing a full-body pink Labubu suit was elected the winner.
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