Are You a Performative Male? If You Have These 4 Albums, Then Maybe

We’ve had posers, scene kids, hipsters, the “m’lady” phenomena, and now, well into the 2020s, it appears to be the era of the performative male. Society has been calling out and labeling inauthenticity countless ways over the decades, and with each new cringey generation, there is a list of albums that seem to define them. 

Performative males have permeated the zeitgeist as a sort of patriarchal “wolf in sheep’s clothing” stereotype. These individuals feign interest in women’s rights, studies, and culture, but the keyword here is feign. A performative male hides behind these traditionally feminine interests and tendencies as a way to manipulate, attract, and deceive women for their own personal gain.

To be clear, the performative male stereotype is not foolproof. The idea inherently has to buy into a binary gender mindset where boys like boy stuff and girls like girl stuff. But in that same breath, we’ve all (particularly women or femme-identifying individuals) met a man who has to be seen as the most conscientious, cultural, artistic, sensitive, and progressive—an egotistical urge that, paradoxically, contrasts the very idea of the person they wish to present themselves as. Think: the one guy who has to mansplain feminism to a group of women at a party.

With the rise of “performative male” hashtags, competitions, and opinion pieces online, there has also been increasing discussion about what albums the peak performative male would listen to. Having these in your vinyl collection doesn’t necessarily mean you are a performative male.

But maybe it’s a good time to assess whether you bought that album because you like it or because you wanted a woman you like to think you like it.

Any Bootleg LP by Lana Del Rey (Or Lizzy Grant Or May Jailer)

We have to give credit where credit is due: Anthony Fantano at @TheNeedleDrop listed his picks for “peak performative male” albums on YouTube, and his inclusion of a Lana Del Rey bootleg actually made us laugh out loud. Early Lana (that is, Lizzy Grant or May Jailer) was peak sad-girl-lost-in-a-neglectful-man’s-gaze. Any bootleg will show a woman that you, too, are a “Queen of the Gas Station” at heart.

‘The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess’ by Chappell Roan

You get bonus “performative male” points (demerits?) for having this album if you’ve ever defined feminism to a woman or if you like songs like “Casual” and “Red Wine Supernova” but think that two women holding hands in public is a bit much. By all means, enjoy this alt-pop album from 2023, but make sure you’re not doing so while devaluing the communities this album is for and about.

‘Fake It Flowers’ by beabadoobee

Some online communities define “performative male” behavior as only appreciating a female artist they deem sexually attractive. TikTok user @matchagirlgrace posits that women who like beabadoobee have “great music taste” and are “hot divas.” Men who are obsessed with beabadoobee, she counters, are “evil.” Having a crush on a musician you like isn’t necessarily weird. Pretending to like them to seem cool to women when you only have a crush on them? That is a little weird.

‘Immunity’ by Clairo

We close our list of performative male albums with Clairo’s 2019 album, Immunity. The album includes the song “Bags,” which she has explained was about her first sexual encounter with a woman. An online “Clairo is for the boys” trend has received flak for being peak-male-performativeness, with critics arguing that it’s impossible to appreciate Clairo’s music from a masculine gaze because it is so inherently feminine and women-centric.

As someone who enjoys all four albums, it’s difficult for this writer to classify all these records as “peak performative male” music, full stop. But then again, this writer is also a cis-female, so it would make sense that I like them. Nevertheless, as the kids say, if you know, you know, and that includes encountering the cringey, manipulative, matcha latte-clad performative male out in the wild. Just because they’re not saying “m’lady” anymore doesn’t mean we can’t spot them from a mile away.

Photo by Joseph Okpako/WireImage