We’ve all seen it: The ultimate and unfortunate human phenotype of 2025-26, the performative male or female.
These people can often be seen drinking an iced matcha latte with oat milk, reading some form of feminist literature and listening to Clairo through wired headphones.
They’re probably wearing a resold pair of cargo jorts with a Y2K-esque shirt, looking forward to their Pinterest scrolling time.
At one time, this was all just a big joke. I laughed at these videos, and you probably did too. Until it became way too real, and frankly, an epidemic akin to the Black Death in 14th century Europe.
Because of this mass-influx of pseudo-intelligent attention seekers, public activities that were once considered normal are now a one-way ticket to judgmental stares and, if you’re really unlucky, a leading role on the joke that is someone’s Snapchat private story.
As an avid booklover who reads Sylvia Plath and other revolutionary authors before they were boiled down to mere aesthetics, I find myself much more hesitant to sit down on a bench and crack open a new book, now that “performativism” has infiltrated everything I know and love.
This hesitance heightens when I have an iced beverage and my AirPods in. I have to ask, why has TikTok effectively transformed normal, everyday hobbies into something we’re embarrassed about?
I promise these assumptions aren’t fully deterring me from my tried and true methods of relaxation. I still participate in these activities, but I can’t help wondering if I look performative while doing so.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg here.
I believe this is just another segway our society has created that leads into the slow yet sure “stupidification” of the younger generation.
Instead of reading books, we’re encouraged to scroll. Instead of children playing outside, some parents simply turn on Ms. Rachel and call it a day.
People are accused of trying to “seem smart” by exercising a broad vocabulary. I may be biased on this subject, but physical newspapers are dwindling, and everyone seems to get their “news” from social media.
Everything is far too convenient, and “brain rot” is unfortunately no longer a laughing matter. I mean, people can’t even listen to certain kinds of music anymore without getting performative accusations.
The worst part is that no one seems to be concerned about this, while it’s happening right in front of our faces.
For those of us who still read, go outside, drink the drinks we enjoy and support the creative arts, we’re not being performative. We’re simply trying to maintain a grasp on what makes us human during a time when people are entertaining relationships with artificial intelligence chatbots and have attention spans comparable to that of a fly.
