great essay and while I could see both sides of this debate, I agree with your points wholeheartedly! in the end, those trying to police the authenticity of other people's hobbies and reading lists just struggle to not get the ego boost of being the intellectual ones if something becomes more popular, when in reality this does not take from the original works value so this gatekeeping is nonsensical.
agree heavily with this! on your point about how a lot of young people want to criticise other young people, i personally believe it stems from witnessing our parents refer to us as the “selfie generation” or saying that we don’t know “real music” (aka hall and oates or fleetwood mac and the typical older music) etc etc etc. i think a lot of gen z have internalised that generalisation from their parents/older generations and so they genuinely believe that most other young people only listen to artists like Clairo to be performative because as their parents told them, we apparently don’t know real music! except for them of course, because they just happened to listen to Clairo properly, unlike all the other posers in their generation.
ooh interesting take, i agree! i think gen z’s obsession with a casual, ‘candid’, nonchalant instagram also stems being desperate to escape the “selfie generation” reputation
I love your essay! This is honestly becoming such a problem in the online space. It's a trend to have a lot of hobbies but then they turn around and complain that people are only doing it for views. What's the worst thing that would happen if someone carries a book around & never reads it? (sorry for the long note😅)
I just think people should mind there own business and stop spreading hate. Performative behavior or not, we should mind our own life. Let people do what they want to do as long as they are not doing the bad stuff. Let them live.
hey, i love this! i’ve been thinking about this whole ‘performative male’ criticism for a while. people aren’t allowed to just enjoy things anymore, and that’s sad. thank you for this take 🫶🏼
this is so well-written and comprehensive, I really agree! the last paragraph in particular really stood out to me, heavvvy on the people performing social activism and not practicing it! i wrote about sort of similar stuff if you're interested <3 also just subscribed, your stuff seems right up my alley!
I literally tried writing about this topic but couldn’t fully articulate what was bothering me about it, but you literally hit the nail on the head with it!
A perspective from an older person....my late teens to mid 20s was 70 percent performance. We perform what we want to be to figure out who we are. Im disheartened to see young people being encouraged to skip this necessary step. At age 43, I still perform about 10 to 20 percent, because I'm still growing. But it's with greater confidence of knowing now the things I am not.
I think we label things as performative because so many things that once required personal choice and individual taste (books, "niche" music, little keepsakes etc) are now being consumed to emulate the "vibe" of a person who reads, for example. The cultural context, the desire is different. People read Dostoyevsky not because they're necessarily interested in what the book says, but they want to appear that they care. AI is used for so much now that physical, tangible proof that you're thinking for yourself is a vehicle to feel intellectually superior, and to inform those around you. It's very chic to be an individual because it's becoming harder and harder to do so. People don't understand how to be individual, because their definition of it has been built on the romanticized aesthetics of it. They want it, but are missing the point; individuality is a long arduous journey that must be taken with the goal of self actualization, not to be "cool".
Yessss! Belittling young men and telling them that exploration into these culturally-associated feminine things will just push them towards the alt-right pipeline and toxic masculinity
great essay and while I could see both sides of this debate, I agree with your points wholeheartedly! in the end, those trying to police the authenticity of other people's hobbies and reading lists just struggle to not get the ego boost of being the intellectual ones if something becomes more popular, when in reality this does not take from the original works value so this gatekeeping is nonsensical.
agreed! thanks for reading <3
YES the fear of reading in public now bcs of this trend is crazyyyy like let me have hobbies
hahah yes it’s never that deep!
agree heavily with this! on your point about how a lot of young people want to criticise other young people, i personally believe it stems from witnessing our parents refer to us as the “selfie generation” or saying that we don’t know “real music” (aka hall and oates or fleetwood mac and the typical older music) etc etc etc. i think a lot of gen z have internalised that generalisation from their parents/older generations and so they genuinely believe that most other young people only listen to artists like Clairo to be performative because as their parents told them, we apparently don’t know real music! except for them of course, because they just happened to listen to Clairo properly, unlike all the other posers in their generation.
ooh interesting take, i agree! i think gen z’s obsession with a casual, ‘candid’, nonchalant instagram also stems being desperate to escape the “selfie generation” reputation
I love your essay! This is honestly becoming such a problem in the online space. It's a trend to have a lot of hobbies but then they turn around and complain that people are only doing it for views. What's the worst thing that would happen if someone carries a book around & never reads it? (sorry for the long note😅)
I just think people should mind there own business and stop spreading hate. Performative behavior or not, we should mind our own life. Let people do what they want to do as long as they are not doing the bad stuff. Let them live.
hey, i love this! i’ve been thinking about this whole ‘performative male’ criticism for a while. people aren’t allowed to just enjoy things anymore, and that’s sad. thank you for this take 🫶🏼
thanks for reading!
this is so well-written and comprehensive, I really agree! the last paragraph in particular really stood out to me, heavvvy on the people performing social activism and not practicing it! i wrote about sort of similar stuff if you're interested <3 also just subscribed, your stuff seems right up my alley!
https://ocdiva.substack.com/p/arent-we-all-performative
thanks! i’ll check it out
What a ridiculous trend! I will continue reading in public, too...
I literally tried writing about this topic but couldn’t fully articulate what was bothering me about it, but you literally hit the nail on the head with it!
aw thank you!
A perspective from an older person....my late teens to mid 20s was 70 percent performance. We perform what we want to be to figure out who we are. Im disheartened to see young people being encouraged to skip this necessary step. At age 43, I still perform about 10 to 20 percent, because I'm still growing. But it's with greater confidence of knowing now the things I am not.
i really love this outlook, thank you for sharing your perspective 💗
Love the essay I especially enjoyed the last part, I definitely agree that there are other bigger issues that we should be worrying about.
Wonderful essay. I agree with you!
thank you!
I think we’ve forgotten that the real problem is not the “performance” itself, but rather the bad faith behind it.
Also, yeah, sometimes people just Like Stuff.
well said!
I think this is a great take on the whole "performative" movement now! Bring back having genuine passions, and also the ability to try new things!!!!
I think we label things as performative because so many things that once required personal choice and individual taste (books, "niche" music, little keepsakes etc) are now being consumed to emulate the "vibe" of a person who reads, for example. The cultural context, the desire is different. People read Dostoyevsky not because they're necessarily interested in what the book says, but they want to appear that they care. AI is used for so much now that physical, tangible proof that you're thinking for yourself is a vehicle to feel intellectually superior, and to inform those around you. It's very chic to be an individual because it's becoming harder and harder to do so. People don't understand how to be individual, because their definition of it has been built on the romanticized aesthetics of it. They want it, but are missing the point; individuality is a long arduous journey that must be taken with the goal of self actualization, not to be "cool".
yes! individually is such an interesting concept when it comes to the internet
Yessss! Belittling young men and telling them that exploration into these culturally-associated feminine things will just push them towards the alt-right pipeline and toxic masculinity
agreed!