On Nov. 7th during lunch in front of Raymond Chhan’s classroom (406), Pickwick club hosted a “Performative Male Contest for students to either participate or spectate. Pickwick is a club that aims to improve literacy in San Diego as well as bring a community of readers together. The event was an extreme success, bringing students together for laughs and for competition. Seven students participated in the contest, hoping to win one of four gift cards Pickwick supplied. 

The idea of a “performative male contest” was not original to Pickwick. In fact, it has become a very popular trend nationwide to have males compete on who can be the most “performative”. In cities all over the country, competitions are held in which males drink matcha, read feminist literature and wear baggy jeans decorated with labubus, in hopes of either winning prize money or appealing to women.

While the performative stereotype centers on clothing or drink preferences, senior Aiden Cortes believes that is not what makes him performative, but rather his choices and actions.  

“There is not a specific thing that makes me performative. It is my aura that gives off performative, the things I do and the way that I speak on a performative level that makes me performative,” Cortes said.

Cortes was one of seven participants in the contest who had to put their best outfit together and embody the character of a performative male. Unfortunately, this enthusiasm and performative spirit did not lead Cortes to a win. After various rounds of questioning and voting, sophomore Marcus Espina came out victorious, crowned “the most performative male”. In spite of fully embracing the performative male style, response, and even music taste, Espina describes how he did not anticipate winning.

“I participated because my mom has a lot of stuff that counts as performative, so I thought I would give it a shot. But, I never expected to win this. It feels pretty crazy, I am really surprised,” Espina said. 

The contest was very popular, as anyone who glanced down the hallway would see a large group of people cheering and enjoying the show. President of Pickwick club Audrey Oani describes her exceeded expectations for the crowd.

“Honestly, we were really unsure about how many people would actually show up but we were pleasantly surprised. We had a whole group of people who were really excited, cheering on and encouraging people’s responses,” Oani said. 

As Oani mentioned, in addition to the sight of a lot of people, the competition was filled with excitement and loud reactions from the crowd. As participants of the contest answered questions, the audience would shout in approval or disapproval, contributing to the overall atmosphere. The large turnout of people may have been due to familiarity in the contest on social media, or an interest in the club itself. Senior Thomas Perez comments on his inspiration to watch the event and his thoughts on the turnout.

“I wanted to show support for Pickwick, as a lot of my friends are in the club, it is a good cause and I wanted to watch some performative males. The event turned out much bigger than I expected and the crowd made it a lot more fun to watch.” Perez said.

Despite what at first seemed, the competition’s purpose went beyond mere entertainment. The original intent of the performative male contest is to promote Pickwick’s book drive they are hosting. 

“We are holding a book drive in association with San Diego Council on Literary, one of the nonprofits we work with that provides books and other resources to underserved children throughout San Diego. We are also going to be providing donuts to the teacher’s class with the most donations,” Oani said. 

The book drive will run throughout the month of November. Brown donation boxes, labeled with the book requirements, have been placed in every English classroom. All students are encouraged to support the Pickwick club’s effort to give back to the community. After Pickwick’s successful performative male contest, they have proved that giving back can be just as much fun as it is impactful.