College students vie for ‘performative male’ title close to Women’s Table

Staff Reporter

Baala Shakya, Photography Editor

Machismo and misogyny were discarded next to Cross Campus Saturday when some 500 students gathered around the Women’s Table for Yale’s first “performative male” contest.

The contest at Yale was a product of an online phenomenon that has gone viral in recent weeks, and performative male competitions have taken place from San Francisco to New York. 

“A performative man is the type of boy who pretends to read All About Love on cross campus, but instead of internalizing bell hooks’ excellent advice, he postures the cover to attract the wandering gaze of Yale baddies,” the contest announcement read. “These guys perform femininity to attract women without actually giving a fuck about the feminine perspective.” 

The event was organized by Chloe Shiffman ’26 and Mia Bauer ’27, who were inspired by a post on Fizz, an anonymous student forum, querying, “Performative male competition at the Women’s Table, when?”

“Chloe said, ‘We need to make this happen for real’ and I can’t believe the turnout and that people did so much,” Bauer admitted.

Cups of matcha from various cafes were ubiquitous at the event, while attempts to imitate the physical aesthetics popularized by celebrities Jeff Buckley and Timothée Chalamet were on full display.

Prior to the contest, contestant Paul Douglass ’26 captured the audience’s attention by squeezing a menstrual pad sopping with matcha onto the pavement near the Women’s Table.

The ensuing contest was divided into three rounds. Upon the conclusion of each round, Bauer and Shiffman asked for audience cheers to determine which contestants would be eliminated. In the first round, contestants gave their names and a spiel of their progressive feminist takes. The second round was a talent showcase.

A “performative microphone,” dubbed that by onlooker Cameron Davis ’28 because it didn’t work, was passed around the group of participants.

Contestant Marco Getchell ’29, who claimed his residential college was the Women’s Table, called being a performative male “a lifestyle.” He arrived more than 15 minutes early, armored head to toe in thrifted garb for the afternoon festivities. He clutched a copy of Susan Sontag’s “Regarding the Pain of Others,” a brown teddy bear, and a Metropolitan Museum of Art tote bag which held a vinyl copy of Chappell Roan’s “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” and a speaker blasting “Perfect Pair” by beabadoobee, an indie artist.

“For a long time we’ve fought a lot of injustice in society for women, misogyny and all that sort of stuff,” Getchell said about the contest. “I think people are coming to a realization that that’s not sustainable and it’s a love for women that brings us here.”

Getchell went on to win the coveted title of the most performative male. 

During the second portion, one participant showcased his controlled method of cigarette smoking. Another simply put a wrapped tampon between his lips to mimic the action of a puffing on a cigarette. One female student used the forum as an opportunity to throw out copies of her mixtape to attendees. Another simply threw wrapped pads out to the crowd.

At one point, the event paused for an exhibition by New Haven highschoolers Teddy Lafargue and Mazzy Casbarro. 

During their portion of the contest, Lafargue, a student at Wilbur Cross High School, gave a spirited call to action about the injustices women suffer. Casbarro, a student at Hamden High School, in line with the spirit of the event, poured a cup of matcha over his head out of frustration.

“My dad told me to come out here today,”  said Lafargue, who is the daughter of Associate Dean of Residential College Life Ferentz Lafargue. “He said ‘I raised a nice performative male, you have a nice performative male friend, and you need to come out here today and show all the other Yale people.’” 

After the event’s nearly 90-minute tenure, Getchell claimed victory and the event’s prize of a “Performative Yale Labubu” — a plush monster toy that wore a Yale cropped t-shirt and pearl necklace and held a Yale Review Tote Bag and matcha.

“It’s such an honor and I can’t believe this,” Getchell said with pride. “I’m just happy. After this I’m gonna go read some feminist literature.”

Diego Figueredo Ferrer ’28 was in the minority of male attendees who did not dress “performatively,” He was merely passing by the event when he was pulled in by the mass crowd of people.

“Me personally, it’s not my truth,” Ferrer said and shrugged. “I like to think that my performativeness is more lowkey. Though, I hope to get some good laughs and inspiration for how to be more performative in the future.”