Men drank matchas, carried labubu dolls and called for periods to be abolished at a performative male contest in Soho Square on Sunday.
The 45-minute-long competition, organised by student Glenta Ekha, 20, was a satirical attempt to decide the best performative male through performances that ranged from book readings and dances, to instrument-playing and singing.
The idea of the performative male was first sparked by the 2024 celebrity look alike competitions in New York City’s Central Park and soon became a viral TikTok sensation where men dressed up for female validation, sporting matchas, labubu dolls and baggy jeans.
These performative males pursue psuedo-interests in order to create an inauthentic version of themselves.
The ideal performative male belief system takes a feminist stance to the extremes, for show, in hopes to attract the female gaze.
The TikTok persona had created a ‘controversial’ stance on identifying feminine traits and masculine traits.
Glenta said: “It does insinuate if you see a man wearing a labubu or holding a matcha, things that are quite ‘feminine’, does that mean he’s performative? I’ve been called performative for reading on TikTok!”
She explained: “There are cases of men participating in female dominated hobbies on a very surface level just to get women in a sexual context.
“For example, the average man that uses female literature as a prop leads to another side theme of men never asking women questions, which is the same as a performative man.”
Glenta hinted it perhaps makes fun of the fact that they are so invested in female literature, calling it ‘meta, in a way.’
She said: “They will think they know a lot about the women’s hobbies, but it’s so surface level that it looks like a caricature.”
Glenta stated: “For example, ‘oh my gosh, I think tampons should be free’, it’s sarcastic and is actually insulting in a way, especially like right now in this political climate.”
Glenta hosted the event to raise awareness for both her book club – United by Stories – and her 2026 London Marathon run.
The 17-year-old competition winner, Caio Zuccolotto – who flaunted a pink Katseye, a pop girl group, flag – that this movement ‘kind of takes advantage of the female weak points’.
He said: “These men are pretending to be something other people want them to be rather than their true selves and it would feel like dating two different people.”
One competitor, 24-year-old Mehraz Rahman, said: “There are some genuine men that are interested in listening to Laufey, Clairo, or Beabadoobee, but they get demonised because, oh, you’re being a performative male, they probably genuinely like that stuff.
“There are some people that think being feminine attracts more women nowadays, for them, it’s meta.”
You can find out more about Ekha’s book club here: https://www.united-by-stories.com
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