How to be a performative male — the Fresno way

Spilled matcha and unopened tampons dotted the floor of Ashley and Carlos Mireles-Guerrero’s Fresno bookstore Saturday afternoon, almost like confetti and beer stains after a concert.

They joked it was probably the strangest, funniest aftermath of any event they’ve put on in their freshman year as brick-and-mortar bookstore owners. That event was Fresno’s own “Performative Male Contest.”

The definition of the so-called performative males at the center of the online trend is somewhat fluid. But many of the TikToks in the name of performative males show men virtue-signaling feminism in some key ways: by consuming feminist literature in public, donning on-trend trinkets like Labubus and heralding female artists like Clairo.

Or, to put it in the words of one of Saturday’s competitors:

“It’s like someone who does things, not because he likes them, but because he wants other people to think he likes them,” said Angel Uribe, who came from Madera to compete at Judging by the Cover bookstore Saturday.

The performative male trend has already spawned a series of similar contests in cities like New York, Seattle and San Francisco. 

Saturday, it came to Fresno’s Chinatown, and drew over 150 young people to the cramped walkway in Judging by the Cover’s building.

Free tampons and matcha lattes were just a few of many ways the 33 contestants projected their feminist ideals and trendiness to the crowd that would crown Fresno’s most performative male.

Fresno’s competitors arguably pulled out some even deeper cuts from the feminist annals, including Fiona Apple CDs and Gillian Flynn’s novel “Gone Girl” — to support not only women’s rights but also “women’s wrongs,” one competitor said.

Fresno’s contest stood apart from other competitions across the U.S. in other ways, too.

Part of that was by design.

“Being that we are an independent bookstore and we’re surrounded by other small businesses, we were trying to focus on the small businesses that sell the items that fit in a performative male starter pack,” said Ashley Mireles-Guerrero.

So instead of prizes from Starbucks or Barnes & Noble, Fresno finalists got gift cards to local businesses like Ragin’ Records and Chinatown neighbor Central Fish Company, where Mireles-Guerrero said you can now find Labubus.

“Ashley and I were very intentional about wanting to make sure that we did it different for Fresno,” said Alex Ramos-O’Casey, a friend of the store who helped organize the event.

“We know here in Fresno, we feel the impacts of how the economy is going much quicker than a lot of other folks do.”

Who won Saturday’s performative male contest?

Each competitor Saturday got (a sometimes very generous) 90 seconds to woo the crowd. They could strut down the imaginary catwalk, show off their props or a skill and otherwise take advantage of the beauty-pageant-slash-fashion-show-hybrid format.

One contestant used that time to chug matcha as the crowd cheered them on. Others tossed handfuls of free menstrual products to attendees. Several played musical instruments (including guitars and the trumpet) and showed off cassette tapes, CDs and vinyls of performative male favorites.

But out of 33 competitors in Saturday’s contest, the crowd could only choose one king. It was Samuel Rooney.

During his allotted 90 seconds, Rooney not only made sure to let a couple of free tampons fall out of his pocket but donned an acoustic guitar to belt out a snippet of Laufey’s “From the Start.”

But outside of the contestants, many of Saturday’s attendees just came to cheer on their friends, sing along to contestants’ impromptu musical performances and enjoy some time outside the house.

Multiple attendees described the contest as a welcome excuse to get out and enjoy a “third space” — especially one where they don’t have to drink alcohol or spend money to enjoy it.

“I know it’s more of like a meme,” said Julian Angel, a competitor who commuted from Selma. “But, you know, having the sense of community, coming out, doing dumb stuff — it’s a really fun thing.”

Some also took advantage of the platform to encourage the performative males to become a little less performative and a little bit more educated on feminism and gender theory.

“If you actually do read the feminist literature that we talked about today, a lot of writers talk about (how) what we call a man and what we call a woman is constructed,” said Ryan, who declined to share a last name. Ryan announced themself as “Fresno’s first performative trans male” during their 90 seconds to many cheers from the crowd.

“The other guys who competed with me, they’re pretty smart. They’re pretty funny. I hope they do actually read those books,” they added.

What made Fresno’s performative male contest unique?

The idea of putting on a performative male contest in Fresno started as a joke, said Ramos-O’Casey, the event’s co-organizer.

She and Ashley Mireles-Guerrero were talking about possible events to bring more people to the bookstore in Fresno’s Chinatown. 

The neighborhood has suffered neglect from city leaders through the years, although new businesses like Judging the Cover and high-speed rail-related investments are opening a new chapter in the historic neighborhood west of downtown.

“Do you think it would bring people out to buy books if we did one here in Fresno?” Ramos-O’Casey recalled asking. “Are we a big enough city? 

“And the answer was yes. We are a big enough city.”

The turnout surprised the organizers and some of the attendees, too.

That’s despite a fraction of the budget that other cities like San Francisco saw, not to mention tech sponsorships. Many of Saturday’s prizes for the Fresno finalists were donated, according to the event’s organizers.

And unlike other performative male competitions around the country that saw AI-assisted rankings to determine a finalist, Fresno’s winner was chosen through good old-fashioned noise.

When the finalists were called back up to see who the crowd favored, the cheers for Rooney were deafening. Some of the loudest shouts came from friends from his homeschooling group, who were there to support him, too.

“Everyone’s lost their voice,” said his friend, Andrea Savala, following the contest.

His win with such fierce competition surprised her — and Rooney, too.

“I did not think it was going to happen, honestly,” Rooney, laughing, said of his triumph. 

“But it’s all for the women,” he quickly added. “All for the women.”