was talking to a friend yesterday about how like... the "performative male" trend was fun for a while but i fear we have now nosedived into calling absolutely anything performative. reading in public is performative wearing anything slightly alt or gender nonconforming or colourful is performative buying a nice drink is performative talking about anything intellectual is performative. and it all comes down to our insane immobilising fear of being earnest!! everything now has to be done under eight layers of abstraction and cool detachment or else it's cringe and you're opening yourself up to a crazy amount of ridicule and scrutiny. and it's all in the name of keeping yourself safe from the panopticon of social media because if you even slightly stick your head above the parapet and do something that other people aren't doing then you'll be Seen and that means you'll be judged. so people tell themselves that if anyone actually IS doing something different then they WANT to draw attention to themselves and they deserve whatever scrutiny comes their way. they think that if they can turn against that person first then nobody will notice their own differences and turn against them. it reeks of insecurity and shame. girl get out of that crab bucket and read a fucking book in public who cares
