Mirror mirror on the wall, who’s the most performative of them all?
MIT Infinite hosts inaugural performative male contest
Michelle Xiang–The Tech
Michelle Xiang–The Tech
Grace Zhang–The Tech
Lee Chen–The Tech
Grace Zhang–The Tech
Grace Zhang–The Tech
Dressed in baggy jeans while holding a matcha latte in one hand and their most thought-provoking feminist literature in the other, students competed for the honor of being the ultimate Performative Male. They advocated for women’s rights (and wrongs) and freestyled interpretative dances to an audience of around 100 people invested in the theatrics of it all.
The performative male contest was organized and judged by the executive board of Infinite, MIT’s premier fashion magazine. Held on the steps in front of the Student Center on Sept. 6, the event was open to all. In the first round, contestants stood in two opposing lines, facing off in one-on-one matchups determined by the judges. Subsequent rounds followed the same knockout style, but winners were instead chosen by the crowd.
When asked why she decided to host the contest, organizer and Infinite co-Events Operation Director Louisa Zhu ’28 said, “I saw other cities doing [similar events] and thought, ‘Boston hasn’t had one yet.’” She saw Cornell host a contest and decided, “Ok, we can’t let Cornell host one and not do one [ourselves].”
For those who aren’t chronically online, the “performative male” is an internet meme of a man who curates an image specifically to attract women. There are a few commonalities to this trend: the performative male is professing his commitment to feminism, sporting a sustainable tote bag, and listening to Clairo, Mitski, and Laufey, among other things. He doesn’t really care about the gender pay gap; it’s all for show. And women.
“You gotta have the Docs. Glasses, a nice little beanie, a few Labubus on the backpack,” said contestant Robert Lermusiaux ’28 about the ideal performative male. “Nice little carabiner. Some good Jane Austen — can never go wrong with Pride and Prejudice.”
Unfortunately, Lermusiaux spilled two large cups of matcha during the competition, eliciting boos from the crowd and prompting a sudden cleanup effort. He had gone to the Dunkin Donuts inside the Stud, ordering a whopping 10 matcha lattes.
“It was rough,” Lermusiaux admitted. “The little canister things that I used to hold them were not very solid. ”
After many close rounds, Olivia Stinson ’28 came out on top. Going by the stage name of Oliver, she wooed the crowd by strumming an acoustic guitar and blowing kisses to individuals in the audience. Her look was peak performativity, from her Sharpie mustache to the – not one, but three – bags slung over her shoulders. She won a large matcha boba plushie and a $25 Kyo Matcha gift card — all small additions to the priceless aura of being MIT’s most performative.
When asked about how she felt about her victory, Stinson said, “I feel really good about it, but I don’t think I would be here without all of the beautiful women in my life, like my mom, my sister, and my other sister.”
The event surpassed the expectations of the organizers, who were impressed by the effort that each participant put into the contest. Someone brought a house plant. According to Zhu, another individual mentioned that they would bring a record player.
“People really went all out for this,” Zhu noted. “I thought people would just come out with a matcha in hand and a tote bag.”
Infinite co-editor-in-chief Chase Vanias ’27 agreed with Zhu, adding that turnout was great. He saw people in the audience from other schools in the area. Reflecting on the experience, Vanias enjoyed how he had the opportunity to organize an event that was able to bring “a lot of people together.”
To Vanias, the most memorable part of the contest was when a contestant put his wired earbuds in his matcha to listen to it. “I thought that was truly magical,” he said.
Audience member Marlo Cyanovich ’28 had nothing but praise for the competition, commenting that she came for entertainment and amusement. Just as she had hoped, she found everything quite entertaining and amusing.
“I’m definitely looking forward to performatively posting the performative male gathering,” Cyanovich said. “It’s kinda like meta irony.”
As the event neared its end, Zhu left the crowd with a few final words: “Stay performative. Stay loving women.”