Matcha, tote bags and feminism: Performative male competition comes to King’s

On Friday 17th October a performative male competition came to King’s College London (KCL).

For those who are unfamiliar with the term, it essentially describes a guy who manufactures certain personality traits in order to impress women. Think drinking matcha, reading feminist novels on the train, and professing his love for female artists.

The event, which was organised by KCL Mani Pedi Society, took place at the Bush House Quad and saw nearly 20 students enter, with performances showcasing everything from serenading to drinking homemade matcha.

After a round of voting amongst the crowd, it was ultimately Zaid who took home the prize as KCL’s best performative male. His winning outfit featured matcha, homemade banana bread and a tote bag. A fair win.

@lubii.mwah

my first performative male contest, would definitely come watch again #fyp #kcl #kingscollegelondon #london #performative

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Forever the charmer, in a video posted to Instagram, Zaid shared that he was “very grateful” for all the women who voted for him.

However, he wasn’t the only one to impress the crowd. Runner-up Artem attracted his fair share of fans, arriving at the event with a f**ck periods sign (Italian Bach would approve) as well as two t-shirts: One featuring Clairo, and the other Lana Del Ray.

Speaking to The King’s Tab, Artem revealed that he decided to participate in the contest as he’d “seen these all over the internet before and it always looks like a good time.”

He also shared that this wasn’t his first time at a performative male competition and that he “even went to the one in Soho Square a couple weeks before – but didn’t get to compete sadly.”

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When asked about the inspiration behind his double t-shirt combination, he explained: “I’m genuinely a big fan of both Lana and Clairo (literally on the committee for Lana Del Rey Society at King’s) so the double t-shirt choice was a no-brainer.”

The student added: “The other stuff was mine too, except the Paloma Wool tote that I borrowed. But besides that and the matcha I didn’t actually drink, I do genuinely own and like most of these things and exaggerating it all a little for the competition just made it more fun.”

Breanna, president of KCL Mani Pedi Society, explained that the event idea had been suggested to the committee by a supporter of the society at this year’s Freshers’ Fair.

However, this isn’t the first time that the society has hosted an event like this, having previously held a Jude Bellingham lookalike competition last year.

She explained that despite the soc mainly focusing on nails, it enjoys creating these “random social events to encourage some enthusiasm on campus and make us more multifaceted.”

When asked how she thinks the event went for the team, she said: “We feel as though it went very well after tons of planning, it was all down to the contestants. They came so prepared and with tons of props, which calmed us down about hosting it since we had nerves as a still very new society.”

Featured image via @lubii.mwah on TikTok