How the beloved beverage landed at the center of a viral social media meme.
Last week, a flyer taped to a pole on the edge of campus caught my eye.
With the help of half-hazard PhotoShop, someone had scattered stock images of seemingly unrelated items across the white paper.
The classic novel All About Love by Bell Hooks, the cover of Clairo’s 2019 album Immunity, and a deep green iced matcha latte dotted the page.
I paused in my tracks. Visions of a bookstore-cafe with an excellent playlist and even better baristas danced through my head.
Then I read the title typed in Comic Sans at the top, and my dreams were dispelled:
PERFORMATIVE MALE COMPETITION.
The making of a meme
The performative male, like the “poser” of the ’90s, is a new cultural archetype that has reached meme status on social media. The term describes a particular kind of man who caters his aesthetic and style to the presumed tastes of feminist women.
“He is, in short, the antithesis of the toxic man.” Alisha Haridasani Gupta and Nicole Stock of The New York Times recently wrote. “Such a man might sip on iced matcha lattes at a cafe while reading Sally Rooney or Joan Didion.”
In the vein of recently trending celebrity lookalike contests, college campuses have begun to compete over who can best fit the newly defined caricature.
That’s where the iced matcha, tote bags, and soft-pop playlists promoted on the poster come into play.
As with any burgeoning internet lingo, the actual definition of what makes a performative male is still uncertain. The one clear marker, though? They love posing with iced matcha lattes.
Matcha’s trending aesthetic
How did matcha become a core pillar of the “performative male” aesthetic? Like many internet users trying to keep up with food trends, I’m not entirely sure.
The TikTok-trending beverage has been popular among young women in recent years, with overpriced cups from Blank Street serving as an aesthetic accessory.
Sweet and colorful, the drink has also transformed into a cultural marker of softness and style. It pairs well with the proposed aesthetic of the performative male archetype.
When pop culture reframes food (and vice versa)
The nature of the internet is that it is constantly renegotiating meaning. One meme can turn a food or drink into a TikTok icon, overlaying original cultural context in the eyes of young viewers. These negotiated meanings can just as quickly change again.
Regardless of distaste for passing memes or performative males, a craving for matcha proved victorious at the campus competition. Swaths of students kicked back in tote bags and baggy jeans, sipping green lattes from plastic cups before the crowd.
Arietta Hallock 
Leave a comment