The Plight of the Performative Male; pseudo-intellectual and cultural magnet
In this grand circus of life, you can meet some bizarre characters; the “performative male” is conducting the lions, and spinning rings on his nose whilst wobbling on the tightrope. This trapeze act is trying to balance the bar between cultural relevance and sexual desirability. The show is a spectacle crafted by a ringmaster who self-directs and casts the light on himself. The audience, if positioned correctly, will be enamoured by what's on display. But make no mistake, the spectators know exactly what it is they want to see.
You’ve seen them, you’ve heard about them, you’ve wondered if they’re capable of reading the right way around; the “performative male” is an interesting trope because of what he attracts. The digital age reminds us yet again that it is the adoption and not the internalisation of ideas which matter. Moreover, it is enough, in today’s world, that a person “looks the part” in this melodramatic existence to which we continue to conform. I have no doubt that The Bell Jar has been opened by some. In saying that, I do have my own reservations as to how many have progressed through the introductory remarks of Ted Hughes.
On paper, the “performative male” is a testament to what is currently trending in popular culture. Cigarettes, matcha, analogue media, liberal beliefs, and liberal gender expression and reading. Women’s rights are cool, but these conversations fall flat when it is revealed that any concerned sentiments double as the punchline. It is the construction of a mask that is so well embellished, it obscures the person underneath. Magnetically equipped with cultural signifiers in the same way a person might decorate a fridge, the result is a strategic display of non-conforming social conformance. Perhaps if you can semiotically velcro yourself to as many distinguished behaviours as possible, you can eliminate that margin of error in which authenticity occurs. These veneers are enhanced, romantic and ideal. But like modern turkey-teeth, they’ll eventually fall away.
The frustrating thing about “performative men” is that I find it difficult to pinpoint a female equivalent across the gender spectrum. A woman drinking some specialised tea, reading some hyper-masculine Dostoevskian classic is just … a woman. Without the additional layer of irony, there is no mystical air about her. In fact, pervasive attitudes would tell us that there is nothing desirable about her at all. Alternatively, one could argue that it is instead the “pick-me” trope which navigates perceived masculine interests. An air-headed archetype which feigns ignorance in relation to any external influences of womanhood. This calls into question not just what is considered to be sought-after across the sexes but the social gulf that exists between expectations. It is hard to imagine a “performative male” and a “pick-me” being caught in the same room together; the two are a foil to one another. I would question their ability to hold eye contact let alone a conversation. It is this synthesis of man into feminine spheres which is innovative and celebrated whilst the participation of women in masculine realms is the norm and expected.
From a feminist perspective, could there be something preferable about a costume of a man when femininity in itself is a performance? Is a person who at least pretends to encompass nuance favourable over someone who wears their faults on their sleeve? The result is shallow; a dating culture begins to emerge which is modelled on algorithmic type hooks to render real engagement and it is bleak. We should veer away from encouraging others to make stock characters out of themselves and reject the photo opportunity of being.
I’m also not entirely convinced that it is the “performative male” which must bear the weight of absolute responsibility. It is the social condition which beckons his arrival and compounds such ideas into personifications. As long as we keep finding novelty in the ouija board, apparitions will occur. In order to model authenticity, it must first be embedded and then, be worth something. I’m speaking of course outside of accessories which can be purchased, consumed and interchangeable at will. For the moment, we must move away from this focus on appearances, the crux of which is being reflected in the cultural mirror. The cultural mirror—maybe that’s why they read upside-down.
