THE MOMENT WE TRY TO BE AUTHENTIC, HAVEN'T WE ALREADY LOST IT?

HAVENT WE.

- By MIKAELA GABRIELLE DE CASTRO

There was a time when each screen had its own life.

Our Pokémon-loaded Nintendo sat in the corner of our room. We quickly texted from our Nokia while our Pet Society avatar waved on our laptop. We edited our #OOTD collages on Pizap or Retrica. These were worlds we could enter and leave freely.

Back then, time and space belonged to us. Now, they’re condensed into one black mirror: the smartphone. It allowed us to document every moment until we slowly set standards for what was worth sharing: our interests, trends, and the moments we marked online.

We used to aim for the picture-perfect feed. But nowadays, it’s the subtle touches of an “effortless” photo dump — hobo bags, Salcedo sidewalks, matcha drinks, and thrifted books that outshine any polished photo.

Gen Z’s pursuit of authenticity is twofold: reactive to predictable, overly polished trends that flatten experience, and negotiating identity in spaces that constantly police what is desirable and shareable. But the moment we try to be authentic, haven't we already lost it?

PERFORMATIVE MALES VS. ‘PICK ME’ GIRLS

The expectations of authenticity online are endless: we share, garner praise, and get questioned. We joke about being “performative” in everything, like the “performative male” meme, where men sip matcha, listen to female artists with wired earphones, or take up hobbies such as journaling, reading, or playing an instrument. Supposedly, “performative males” aren’t genuinely interested in Murakami or ceremonial matcha for their own sake but purely to attract the “female gaze.”

In an interview with Young STAR, the enigmatic voice behind the satirical and social commentary Facebook page “Third-World Bakla Prophetess 2.0” calls the “performative male” a case of “patriarchal opportunism”: “Men deploy femininity to seduce women. In other words, it’s an act of sex opportunism where gender is effectively utilized.”