Performative Mascs and Evil Fems: What Does It Mean To Be A Bad Gay?
Written by Daphne Bryant
Flyer by @godoftrees
The term“ performative male”, as we know it, is a relatively new term popularized by Internet memes. If you’re as chronically online as I am, you’ve most likely seen clips of a performative male contest on social media. Hell, you may have even attended one yourself! For those of you unfamiliar, these competitions work similarly to the celebrity look-alike contests that gained traction in 2024. A bunch of randos dress up like it’s Halloween, gather in one common area (like a park) and show off, one by one, just how performative they are. Now that school is back in session, college campuses have become the new breeding ground for these performative male contests. The archetypal trend is fueled by young people, by students. It’s unequivocally Gen-Z.
Honestly, I think it’s pretty clever. Personality quirks such as listening to Clairo, drinking matcha, owning a Labubu, reading feminist lit...we didn’t just make all of that up. Yes there are“ progressive” men who genuinely care about things like women’s rights, but there are also plenty of“ pick me guys” who engage in such activities simply for female attention. The performative contest trend is a funny, and very public way, to poke fun at the irony. It also calls out the insincerity of men who weaponize performative feminism and fake emotional sensitivity. These clown shows are satirical mating calls, and like most Internet trends, there are WLW versions.
Whether in the form of performative masc contests or evil fem competitions, the sapphic community has put their own spin on the phenomenon.
In a queer context, the conversation around performativity shifts. What does it mean to be a performative masc? Well, like most things concerning‘ societal performance’, it has to do with presentation. Barbara Ann Teer once said,“ we dress a certain way, we walk a certain way, we talk a certain way, we paint a certain way, we make love a certain way, you know?” Tell me: what stereotypes do you ascribe to a performative masc-presenting person? Do you think of a hey mamas type: flexing pics, backwards caps, thirst traps,“ try-hard” personas that, as Quispe López puts it in them,“ are often attributed to white and other non-Black lesbians who adopt the aesthetics and language of Black and brown masc lesbians, [in a way] that feels inorganic and inauthentic at best, and appropriative at worst”? I sure do.
Performative masc contests are funny to us for the same reason that they’re funny to straight people: these MFs really do exist! We meet performative mascs at Futch and see them on dating apps. They’re our exes, our friends, our mutuals. The whole thing is hilarious, but rooted in some truth.
Then there are performative contests where feminine-presenting queers compete to see who is the most“ evil”. Bisexuals and lipstick lesbians, this might just be our chance to shine! #Kidding…seriously though, what is the basis for this evilness? Just because a fem has tattoos, colored hair, or a RBF doesn’t mean they’re going to deceive or manipulate you, but I guess it’s not really about what they could do or who they are; it’s about what you think they could do, who you think they are. Like I said earlier, performative blank contests kinda give Halloween. The people judging these contests aren’t judging you based on who you really are, they’re judging you based on how good the character you put on is. The concept of being a bad gay, as far as this trend is concerned, is pretty superficial.
What about actual bad gays, like really abhorrent ones? A couple years back I bought and read this book called Bad Gays: A Homosexual History. Nonfiction isn’t my first love, but the title (and description) drew me in. The book, written by Huw Lemmey and Ben Miller, essentially aims to center“ bad gays” who are often dismissed by history in favor of“ queer heroes”, the good guys, people whose deeds and sexualities are more palpatable. That’s why I found Bad Gays so intriguing, and why I’m also so fascinated by the performative masc and evil fem contests: in their book, Lemmey and Miller platformed queer villains, fascist thugs, and evil twinks (which rarely happens anymore, in the age of cancel culture). While the premise is compelling, and there are a lot of cool tidbits and factoids, I felt like I was trudging through mud the whole time I was reading. Like a lot of literature written by white gay men, the people Lemmey and Miller chose to feature are mostly (you guessed it!) white gay men. Unfortunately, the book fails to properly explore the nuance of queer women, BIPOC folk, and trans individuals (and IDK, maybe that’s because they’re scared of cancel culture after all). This being said, Bad Gays got me thinking about what I’m going to call the morality spectrum. I’ve had my fair share of queer experiences, and I think it’s safe to say that we’re not all great. Some of us are manipulative. Some of us are abusers. Some of us are culture vultures. Some of us are racist, misogynistic, and struggle with internalized homophobia (#ouch #triplewhammy). But you don’t need me to tell you that! Step back and take a look at the queer landscape. Pick up a book, go to a museum! See for yourself. So-called bad gays are everywhere, and they’ve always been.
These performative queer contests are meant to highlight watered down, caricatures of bad gays, modern versions of them that are not legally concerning, just ridiculous. It’s“ beware of undercuts and thick eyeliner” type shit, without acknowledging the micro-aggressions that fuel the conversation in the first place.
I don’t have an issue with all the entertainment, but as a true thought daughter, I have to ponder what the bigger, global context of the contests is. That’s just me though! Don’t let me rain on your parade! I mean, no one’s forcing you to overthink it when you’re watching hot mascs or fems strut their stuff. By all means, throw that contest, rally up the troops, fawn and squeal and snag your favorite’s number after. Right now we need queer community any way we can get it, so I’m in support. I just think it’s important to remember why this trend exists. At the end of the day, nothing exists in a vacuum, and everything is indicative of real world circumstances. As silly as it seems, performative contests are critiques.
