Hi, performative men: drag queens did it first

Performing gender for an audience is nothing new for D.C. The late summer boom of ‘performative male contests’ is just the freshest addition to the District’s long, queer performance history. 

The term performative male identifies men who prefer traditionally feminine aesthetics, such as painted nails and female indie artists, and who care about women’s feelings – or at least pretend to. The concept has now become the basis for public competitions sprouting up over the past few weeks in Seattle, Toronto, and New York City, as well as D.C. to determine who wins the title of most performative male. 

At the same time, lesbian and queer communities have launched ‘performative masc’ contests, where women and nonbinary people lean into stereotypes within their own community.

At McPherson Square, D.C.’s most performative men, representing a range of gender expressions, gathered in a matcha-sipping, Labubu-adorned showcase for the city’s performative male contest on Aug. 31 – just a few blocks from U Street, a culturally significant neighborhood for the Black and LGBTQ+ community. The event began when American University Student Emera Humphreys dropped a TikTok ad for the contest, followed by a Partiful RSVP link.

Contestant number one at the contest, Alex Montgomery, applied makeup and dressed up in preparation for the competition, a copy of Strong Female Lead: Lessons From Women In Power by Arwa Mahdawi in tow. They were one of two non-male-identifying contestants among the participants.

“Alex – that’s not my real name. That’s an extension of myself that I use when I go out. So honestly, this is really a drag competition, if you think about it,” Montgomery said after their performance.

One by one, the contestants took turns pulling feminist literature and tampons from their tote bags, while a crowd of mostly women laughed and cheered.

“I think women can recognize the inherent performativity of a man,” Ella O’Connor, contest attendee, said after the event. “When we hear certain topics of conversation being brought up, we’re able to recognize it for its performative nature. Whereas sometimes men think that they’re being genuine and they’re not.”

Contestant 11 in the lineup, Jaibin Mathew, pulled out the Korean sunscreen Beauty of Joseon from his Georgetown tea shop, ching ching CHA, tote bag to cheers from the crowd.

“Adding props and things like that, it feels like a lesser form of drag, in a way,” Mathew said after the competition. “People are pulling things out of their bag–their surprises–and you’re performing gender in a heightened sense.”

The popularity of performative male contests is linked to a broader cultural hunger for humor and release, according to Arlington-based clinical psychologist and founder of Vivid Innovations Consulting, Ashley Elliott, known popularly as Dr. Vivid.

“When we see people–whether it be inauthentic or authentic–making fun of themselves, not taking themselves too seriously, that is enjoyable,” she said. “Especially in American society, where a lot of male ideals are steeped in aggression, or not showing a full range of emotion, or not being able to laugh at yourself.”

Performative male contests should lead to community-focused actions after the laughs, Elliot said.

“It’s not about outfits. It’s not about T-shirts. It’s about allyship,” she said. “Being able to show up for groups of people who identify or express themselves and say, ‘Hey, I’m here to support and I’m here to protect.’”

Acknowledging contributions of queer individuals to modern life in D.C. is a crucial part of this process, Elliot said.

“We talk about the history of drag and the history of ballroom; we have a very deep history in D.C.,” Elliot said. “All people want is the space to freely express themselves and feel like ‘I belong’ and ‘I matter.’”

D.C.’s drag history dates back to the late 19th century when William Dorsey Swann, known as the “queen of drag,” organized balls in the district. By the mid-20th century, U Street emerged as the epicenter of Black Broadway and the ‘panzy craze,’ a dynamic hub for African American nightlife and drag. Following desegregation, it transformed into a center for gay clubs and bars. 

By the 1990s, D.C. hosted over 40 drag shows each week, according to Mark Meinke, founder and chair of Rainbow History Project, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving D.C.’s LGBTQ+ history.

Today on U Street, Brooke N. Hymen, a trans masculine drag queen based in D.C., frequently performs at various venues, including Shakers, Kiki, and DC9 Nightclub.  Hymen describes their on-stage gender performance as a form of subversion.

“I’m doing a lot of gender play,” Hymen said. “I love showing off the fact that I am trans, while also dressing up in a feminine way, and subverting the fact that I was born a woman, but I am now becoming a man in my day-to-day life, but then I want to be a woman again on stage. It’s absurd and fun, and I love it.”

Hymen said their drag is both playful and political. Yet when queer styles become a trend, they said the problem isn’t the performance, it’s the failure to credit the queer legacies behind it.

“Knowing your histories and connecting to the queerness of it, and lifting the queer community and the trans community, rather than taking this as something for cis people,” Hymen said.

To view the full gallery of photos of contestants, visit The Wash’s Instagram.