Over a hundred students gathered on the steps of Gorgas Library on Sunday, most decked out with tote bags, matcha lattes and their prepared talents to compete and become the Capstone’s resident “performative male” or “performative masc lesbian.”
The trend of a “performative man,” or a man who pretends to be a feminist to get closer to women, went viral on TikTok. Performative characteristics range from flaunting tote bags full of feminist literature to drinking mass amounts of matcha.
Sassy Mednikow, a senior studying business and music, organized the competition. She said that she “didn’t advertise much,” mostly using flyers around campus and didn’t think “anybody was gonna show up.”
“I’ve been seeing these all over TikTok and all over Instagram, and I know UA has a very diverse population that a lot of people don’t realize, so I wanted to bring those people out to see who would show up,” Mednikow said.
The competition drew in 62 competitors who were given the chance to introduce themselves, explain their performativeness and perform their chosen talent for 90 seconds. Competitors sported outfits such as open flannels and baggy pants; brought props that helped them perform, like vinyls, labubus and flowers; and acted as performative males would, reading feminist literature and being nonchalant.
Some of the performative competitors jokingly feigned not knowing what the purpose of the competition was or that a competition was occurring at all.
“I didn’t know there was a performative male contest going on. I was walking to Gorgas to read my book, ‘The Catcher in the Rye,’ and I saw a bunch of other people who were dressed like me,” said Chris Faulk, a sophomore studying mathematics. “I came over and asked what was going on. They said there was a performative male contest going on. I didn’t really know what that meant.”
The choice to compete in the competition was easy for some, like Ben Hersman, a sophomore studying electrical engineering, who said his friends said he was “perfect” for the competition.
“I had eight people send me a photo of the flyer. I apparently just give performative all the time anyway, so I thought it would be fun to meet new people and have a good time,” Hersman said.
The participants all recognized the importance of spotlighting their fellow competitors, but more importantly feminist literature and media.
“I’m only hoping that I can be as good for the crowd as women’s contributions to society have been,” Wells said.
Other competitors described performative masculinity as part of their nature, such as the crowned winner of the performative man competition, Phillip Omondi, a freshman computer science major. Omondi sported snoopy gear, a bouquet of flowers, the signature matcha, and plushies clipped to his belt, including one that doubled as a speaker so he could play his “Laufey and Clairo and everything else.”
“I go on TikTok, and I look around and I hear people talk about performative males, and I realize, like everyone else is performative, except for me,” Omondi said.
The winner of the masc section of the competition was Autumn Collins, a freshman majoring in graphic design. She played a cover of Chappell Roan’s “Subway” to take the biggest cheer and be crowned as the winner.
Performative masculinity “is just like kind of existing as someone for someone else, like kind of not being yourself anymore,” Collins said. “It’s a funny concept, but I’m participating. None of this outfit is mine.”
Gabriel Villarreal, a senior studying economics and finance, attended the competition and, while not competing, self-identified as the “realest performative male” present. He also saw an “issue” with the “separating of the competition between masculine lesbians and men.”
“Why are they separating the women from the men? Have they not been separated from us long enough? Where is the gap? At the end of the day, unless you only have true equality if you pit them against each other,” Villarreal said.
When asked about the controversy, Mednikow acknowledged the importance of recognizing both groups, but claimed it wasn’t done to “discriminate.”
“You know, I’m bisexual, so I get it, but I wanted there to be two winners,” Mednikow said. “I wanted to uplift the women who have worked so hard to be here.”
Omondi highlighted the importance of this competition not only for campus morale but for the Black community on campus, saying that he was “especially excited” that the top four performers in the competition were all Black.
“I’m very excited to be able to have won with all these beautiful people,” Omondi said. “Especially at The University of Alabama, you know, obviously there’s a lesser Black population. So being able to show up and show out as a Black man and a Black masc is very important.”
