MINNEAPOLIS -- One young man gave away free menstrual products. One unfurled a banner with a demand to “end period cramps.” Another did a card trick and turned the king of spades into the queen of hearts.

“It turns into a woman, because women can solve all problems!” he shouted to cheers.

That’s how the 38 contestants tried to woo an audience full of women at a “performative male” contest at the University of Minnesota recently. The event poked fun at a new archetype of Gen Z man who picks his hobbies and his aesthetic based on what he believes will attract women, even when he’s not actually interested in those things. He might carry a tote bag, sip a matcha latte or clip a Labubu doll to his flare-cut jeans.

This year, videos titled or tagged with “performative male” have racked up tens of millions of likes on TikTok. Initially, they captured their subjects reading feminist literature or listening to music on wired headphones, allegedly to score social points. But the trend has since move toward satire, and performative male contests have popped up from Sydney to Jakarta.

It’s a trend deeply entwined with a fraught online dating scene, where, for years, “catfishers” have misrepresented themselves to lure partners. But this event gave college kids a chance to wrap layers of irony around the new pejorative, said Maandeeq Abdi, a sophomore who attended the contest.

“It’s like a meme,” Abdi said, “and you’re seeing it in real life.”

The performances started well before the contest began. As contestants registered for a slot, one began brewing a cup of matcha on the sidewalk, to the delight of onlookers.

University of Minnesota sophomore Sasha Munson was in character even as he paced around ahead of the contest. He said he spent about $40 to develop his outfit, which included a boba tea keychain hanging from his belt loop and a tote bag slung over his shoulder.

Contestants had 30 seconds to perform over-the-top deference to women before an audience of more than 150 people voted for the best eight. Some joked that they had wandered there looking instead for a women’s rights rally. Others declined to ask for the audience’s support, saying they’d never tell a woman what to do with her vote.

Munson thanked the men in attendance, and the audience promptly booed him offstage.

Drinking matcha or reading feminist literature is far from a problem, said Savannah Tanner, a 2023 U graduate who returned to see the contest, noting that the aesthetics satirized by the contestants actually make men more approachable in real life. But many women, she added, are still wary of them.

“I think we’re hesitant,” Tanner said. “We recognize the strategy behind it and that it could actually pose a little bit more of a danger, this false approachable-ness.”

That skepticism reflects a larger Gen Z malaise toward dating, especially online. A Forbes survey taken last year found that about three of every four Gen Z respondents were burned out from dating apps. Almost 40% of all respondents reported being catfished, and the survey found that users commonly lied about their age and hobbies.

And several of the women at the event compared the performative male to another concern in the online dating scene: Men who lie about their political beliefs.

“There’s just a big trend of, like, not trusting men in general — that’s a very growing trend which is totally understandable,” said Matthew Bi, who organized the event for the university’s multicultural business club.

Through contestants’ flamboyant shows of deference, this devious archetype of men became the joke. And after an hour and bracket-style eliminations, Colin Phan, a freshman studying finance, was crowned as the most performative.

Phan, in a sense, borrowed his way to victory. His loose, trouserlike jeans came from raiding his friend’s wardrobe, he said. And he took his act from an alter-ego he calls “Jimmy.”

“I adopted his personality and what a performative male would do. I just became that,” Phan said. “They love women. They do everything for women. They live for women, obviously.”

It was sometimes a tricky needle to thread, making a punchline out of venerating women. And some of the contestants couldn’t help slipping into sincerity. One contestant’s voice dropped as he spoke about an appreciation for his mother, and the crowd fell silent as he talked.

Phan himself delivered a line about moms being his “superheroes.” That part, Phan later clarified, was true, adding that he was simply trying to make his mother proud.

If the contest was earnest in its attempt to crown the most performative male, then it might discourage men from reading feminist literature or whisking matcha, said Bi, the organizer.

But Abdi, Tanner and the rest of the crowd laughed, cheered and mostly kept their seats as the contestants strutted around the stage.

“They’re in on a joke with us,” Abdi said.

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