The performative male (or performative man) also sometimes called the matcha male, generally involves performative displays of progressivism, feminism, as well as emotional sensitivity. Examples of such displays include reading books by feminist writers like All About Love by bell hooks, listening to female indie artists such as Clairo, drinking matcha lattes, and owning a Labubu. These displays are typically done as a means of superficially appealing to progressive women with the intent to romantically pursue them.

The performative male archetype as a man with "traditionally feminine hobbies with the sole intent of cultivating an inauthentic aesthetic that might appeal to progressive women." The performative male "is doing his mating dance, puffing out his feathers, in pursuit of female attention. Think of our performative male like a female gaze caricature on steroids... The performative male is designed to look alluring and non-threatening and intelligent, to and for women."

Interests of the performative male generally include astrology, iced matcha lattes, Labubu keychains, certain women musicians like or Laufey, vinyl records, vintage clothing, therapy, women authors like Sally Rooney, baggy jeans, wired headphones, tote bags, and skin care, among others. In particular, Clairo's 2024 single "Juna" is often used in videos of performative males. Some have deemed the performative male to be both shallow in such interests, as well as deeply manipulative in his approach to women. . . . (OOC: nothin wrong with being like this. Only thing wrong is if it’s for performance and you don’t truly like any of it. That’s what I’m making fun of. The guys who “perform” like this. 😗 )

Drinking his iced matcha latte, fiddling with his Labubu keychain, and scrolling on his phone and zodiac’s in public. Oh no. Looks like you’ve encountered a pick me boy. Otherwise, a performative male.

he had a perm, obviously-taken-care of skin, and a blue shirt. He had a book on the table he was sitting at, which oddly seemed like he wasn’t even reading, seeing how he continuously kept looking around. And yes the book was written by a woman. And yes it’s feminist literature. A woman sat by him, and after a specific amount of planned time he said in a “sensitive” voice to her.

“Hey.. sorry you women have to go through so much… it sucks… if I had the power I would get rid of period’s and such.”

yeah that did it. And he thinks he’s so smooth with it too. He calmly went back to his seat, drinking some iced matcha. He picked up his book back up, making sure everyone can see it while making it look like he truly was reading it. He played his Clairo Spotify playlist, that was mixed with beabadoobee, Laufey, Sabrina Carpenter, all that stuff.

Hes such a “sensitive” and “emotional” guy. So caring and feminist.