The Performative Male Is Gen Z's Overconsumption Final Boss

Living in Los Angeles, I see performative males everywhere: strolling through Silver Lake with a $9 matcha in one hand and an overpriced tote bag of unread books in the other, wired headphones blasting Clairo as they pop into their local Erewhon. But they’re not just in my city — the new archetype has taken a fierce hold on TikTok, with the phenomenon amassing millions of views, memes, and heated debates online. Forget f*ckboys and softbois: the performative male is the new guy to avoid.

If Millennials had the hipster, Gen Z has the performative male — a man defined by how carefully he curates his clothes, tastes, and even political values all in the name of clout (and, let’s be real, appealing to liberal women on Bumble).

Sure, some of the content on TikTok is funny and lighthearted — not every guy in Greenpoint sporting a vintage Ralph Lauren Harrington jacket and wired earbuds is a walking red flag. Some are even just in on the joke, capitalizing on yet another viral moment on social media. But behind the irony is a real trend driven by overconsumption and mass consumerism — the desperate need to give in to another trend, splurging on a whole-new wardrobe in the process. The performative male isn’t simply a personality trait or meme — he’s the overconsumption final boss.

Ahead, read more on the performative male trend, what it is, and how it embodies overconsumption at its finest.

Performative males are exactly what they sound like: men who don a façade of being progressive, feminist, and even emotionally sensitive, but may not actually hold those values deep down. Whether it’s for the sake of likability, popularity, or clout, it’s all performative.

The whole appearance — from the clothes to the accessories — is what makes the performative male easily identifiable in public, too. Essentially, think of the classic hipster aesthetic, but with a Gen Z, matcha-drinking, Labubu-wearing twist.

Style plays a huge part of the performative male archetype. Even though the trend is relatively new, there’s already a quintessential performative male outfit formula: A pair of worn-in baggy trousers or jeans (bonus points if they’re sourced vintage or secondhand) and an expensive T-shirt that fits juuuust right — like the $95 Whitesville white tee popularized by Jeremy Allen White in The Bear — topped off with an oversized denim jacket or slouchy cardigan for when the Erewhon frozen aisle is just a tad too chilly.