Microgenres and Performative Males: The Soundtrack of Aesthetic Trends

As trends move and cycle through social media, the looks of popular microtrends coincide with the curation of microgenres that bring sound to the aesthetic. 

Written by Ainsley Dwyer

Photo courtesy of Melissa Lyttle

Often born from niche internet communities or fashion-forward urban spaces, microtrends can spark creative outputs across media where people can bring the trends to life and incorporate them into their lives through things like fashion or art. In music, microtrends frequently go hand-in-hand with what can be considered “microgenres” that use specific instruments and lyrics to mirror the aesthetic of a “viral” cultural look or mood. Think of the “cottagecore” aesthetic complementing the soft folkpop of Hozier and the raw, distorted lo-fi and noise music of Fleet Foxes that makes you feel like you're in a prairie. These microgenres tend to form in tandem with the identity curation that characterizes the trend, which is especially true for the newfound fixation of the performative male.

In August, a movement began on the West Coast of the U.S. where Seattle held the first “performative male contest” igniting a spree of these competitions across the country, especially on college campuses, including UT Austin. The trend stormed the internet and created the aesthetic of “the performative male.” The performative male typically dons baggy thrifted jorts, graphic tees under an open short-sleeve button-up, a tote bag, a matcha in-hand, feminist literature, and a pair of wired headphones. The overall effect is intentional nonchalance, a curated casualness that signals sensitivity, awareness, and a superficial detachment from traditional masculinity such as adopting traits of progressiveness and feminism. 

What elevates the performative male from just a fashion movement to a cultural microtrend is how it extends into music trends. The sound of the performative male playlist is defined mostly by dreamy guitars, soft whispered vocals, analog fuzz, and lyrics that make it feel like listening to a journal entry. Think artists like Clairo, Faye Webster, Japanese Breakfast, Shelly, beabadoobee, and The Marías. These artists create a soft and emotionally literate sound that perfectly complements the performative male’s curated image. The dreamy softness, the lo-fi polish, and the subtle emotionality serve as a sonic mirror to the fashion and posturing of the trend. The authentic textures of the music bring the same vintage feeling of a thrift-store or a film camera. It is like a type of nostalgia you can listen to.

Listening to these artists becomes a way to participate in a community, to signal aesthetic literacy, and to adopt a mood or identity that feels both emotionally vulnerable and aesthetically deliberate. For example, artists Clairo and Faye Webster deliver melancholic and introspective lyrics mixed with mellow vocals and a clean and stylized production that never feels too chaotic. These artists typically sing about situations or feelings that resonate with the experience of women. So when a man with what many call “good fashion”  expresses interest in their songs, it gives women the idea that they understand the message the artists are sending. This microgenre of the alt-indie female experience is what the performative males have taken to listen to in an attempt to fit the aesthetic and appeal to women.

What makes this phenomenon a microgenre and not just a “vibe” is how it influences creators and listeners alike. Emerging artists begin making music with similar textures. Bringing a rise in playlists surface with names like “boyish mornings” or “tote bag heartbreak.” The genre becomes self-perpetuating, its identity more about the shared aesthetic and emotional performance than any specific sonic structure. It’s less about chord progressions or song structures and more about the mood that surrounds them, a mood that’s fuzzy, introspective, cinematic. Take, for example, Lizzy McAlpine’s “Pushing It Down And Praying,” which seethes with emotion because of the symphonic instrumentation augments the singer’s raw Voice Memo recording. It exemplifies music that feels like it was recorded in a bedroom, but yet still fits perfectly on a moodboard or a film scene. That sense of authenticity is what makes this music so admirable by the performative male, giving the fabricated personality a sense of realness that he hopes will be appealing to women and come off as someone in touch with their emotions and understands art.

Here, a feedback loop forms: fashion influences the music, and the music reinforces the fashion. The performative male aesthetic is rooted in theatrics, but the music provides the emotional undercurrent that makes the performance feel raw. The men attach themselves with this music to show they’re authentic, ironically. 

However, this isn’t the first time fashion and music have merged to create microcultural spaces. We’ve seen it with punk, with grunge, with Tumblr-era soft grunge, and with 2010s normcore. But what makes this current wave unique is how self-aware it is. The term “performative male” itself suggests a consciousness of the act of men performing a curated softness that blends irony with earnestness. The musical trends and playlists follow suit. People associate this trend with songs and lyrics that often hover between cryptic and confessional, creating a space where emotion is allowed but never fully unleashed. This phenomenon is seen in Clairo belting “I can't read you / But if you want, the pleasure's all mine” in her hit song “Bags.” She displays vulnerability, romantic uncertainty, and a fear of emotional distance. Therefore, this microgenre creates room for emotional expression that feels socially safe. Vulnerability is allowed as long as it’s aesthetically framed. It becomes a form of emotional signaling that aligns with the cultural moment, one where identity is as much about aesthetic fluency as it is about authenticity. You don’t just feel something; you package the feeling in a way that others can understand and mirror.

In the end, the performative male microgenre is not just about music or clothes or coffee shop aesthetics. It’s about the blurring of personal identity with a curated mood. It’s about how young people use style and sound to show who they are. Music becomes a tool for expressing vulnerability without abandoning control. Through playlists, lo-fi beats, melancholic lyrics, and nostalgic tones, feeling is both genuine and stylized. It’s not just about what you’re listening to, but how that sound reflects who you are or want to be. Whether it’s through a playlist or an outfit, the message remains the same: Feel deeply, but make it look and sound good.