Labubus and tote bags How 'performative males' seek to signal their enlightened ways

Here is a new man in town. You may have spotted him posing with an oat milk matcha pretending to read a copy of The Bell Jar. Or maybe you saw him seeming to listen to Lana Del Rey, but his earphones weren't plugged in. Maybe he makes a point of carrying tampons around with him for women in need. He's called a "performative male" and is a relatively new archetype gaining traction – and inspiring mockery and critique – online.

- Ellie Violet Bramley

He'll probably have a Labubu plush toy dangling off a bag or belt loop. Point-and-shoot cameras are optional. He'd like you to think he has read Sally Rooney's entire back catalogue and that Joni Mitchell is his favourite musician, but he doesn't know any of her lyrics.

There is a menswear element, too. He's likely to wear baggy trousers, perhaps made from Japanese selvedge denim, Vivienne Westwood chrome-hearts necklaces and a tote bag, ideally emblazoned with feminist slogans. All of this has one end goal: to look good in the eyes of women.

According to J'Nae Phillips, a trend forecaster and the creator of the Fashion Tingz newsletter: "A performative male is less about who someone is than about how they curate and project masculinity in public – usually online. He is acutely aware that manhood is being watched, assessed and consumed, so he stages it."

On TikTok, women are sharing sightings of people they deem to be performative males in public – reading highbrow literature, maybe even filming themselves as they do it, between sets at the gym.

Content creators are seeking to skewer the archetype, with men performing like "performative males" for knowing audiences.

In one video showing what it could be like to go on a date with a performative male, the man in question plays Beyoncé's