From tote bags to matcha lattes, feminist literature, Labubus, and wired headphones blasting Clairo, all of these are now deemed “performative” interests. This begs the question: what’s next to get caught in the performative storm?

The term “performative” has been around for decades, but as time went on, it became more prominent and evolved into what it is known as today. When many people hear the word performative now, they usually think of men who participate in women’s hobbies or interests solely for the purpose of appealing to women.

Listening to female indie artists such as Beabadoobee and Clairo, who have a predominantly female audience, wearing clothes or accessories like tote bags or jewelry from certain brands, and reading books about feminism are all examples of performativity for men.

“It’s not like a bad thing, it just feels a bit fake,” junior Justyn Wang said. “Like if you don’t actually like the things that you’re doing, but if you like the aesthetic, I guess it’s not really performative.”

Similarly, junior Yuri Urbiztondo stated his opinion on performative people.

“I really couldn’t care less about it, but if I go on to join in on a trend because it looks cool, I feel like I shouldn’t be an outcast for it,” Urbiztondo said.

On the other hand, some students feel more strongly about the performative trend and dislike it.

“I think people should stop being performative,” junior Kassy Rosario said. “I think performative people are doing it just so they can be seen, and it’s too much, but the trends are funny.”

Likewise, junior Juliana Hall stated that the trends were funny to a certain extent. Hall sees that the ways men are trying to gain validation from women are humorous, but taking it too seriously can have the opposite effect.

“I kind of hate the joke about it because I feel like the things that men do to be performative were just things that women enjoy, and it turns it into a joke,” Hall said. “I feel like making it satirical takes the value women find in these things.”

According to Hall and Rosario, they both find the “performative male” trend humorous, but at the same time, irksome.

For some students who enjoyed certain interests before they became performative, it can be frustrating because these students don’t want to be called performative for a genuine interest. Long before matcha was dubbed “performative,” the beverage had people who enjoyed it. One prime example of this is matcha.

“I genuinely enjoyed matcha before it was a trend,” Hall said.

Along with Hall, Rosario similarly stated that she enjoyed the drink before it became popular.

“I actually enjoy drinking matcha, but when people see me drinking it, they’ll be like ‘You’re performative,’ but no, I liked matcha before everyone else,” Rosario said.

Due to the high demand for matcha because of these trends, there has been a matcha shortage that has affected businesses that supply the drink.

As stated in an article on BBC News, “Matcha production nearly tripled between 2010 and 2023, according to Japan’s agricultural ministry.”

On the contrary, Urbiztondo said, “I think if I could remove one thing from being performative, it would be selvedge denim because why are people making it performative for wearing pants?”

In a recent poll, 100 students at RCHS shared their thoughts about performative microtrends. The most popular item that people wanted to remove from being performative was Labubus with 42% of the respondents saying Labubus should not be considered performative. In second place was wired headphones with 34%, and in third place was Clairo or any other performative artist with 33%.

Some students felt that they would be highly offended by being called performative, even if they enjoyed the things that fell under the performative classification, even before it became popular.

“I’d be mad if someone called me performative,” Hall said. “I try to do things authentically, so I’d feel offended if someone called me that.”

Also in the poll, only 32% of respondents said that the trend was funny, while the rest of the respondents were either neutral, hated the trend, or didn’t care too much about it.

Some students gave their thoughts on what the next performative trend would be. Many of the responses were things that were originally from Asian culture, such as jade bracelets or bangles, Thai tea, chai, ube, and boba.

“I think the next performative trend would be Asian centric flavors like pandan or red bean could become more mainstream in the future,” junior Mikhaela Bismark said.

Other things that students have said would be the next fad are certain pieces of clothing, like certain brands of jeans and sweatpants.

Overall, students dislike the idea of being “performative” as it’s something that people partake in to look “cool,” but not be genuine to appeal to others who actually enjoy them. This creates harmful stereotypes that are projected onto others who were enthusiasts before popularity struck.

“Just let me drink my tea,” sophomore Theodore Vu said.