Happy Monday. A lot to unpack in today’s newsletter including performative male contests around the world, a white creator making a blackface Labubu, and Love Island UK’s Whitney Adebayo opening up about the racism she experienced in her couple.

Are you a performative male?

@corteezyy

One of the funnest events we have done so far in Capitol Hill!!! Congratulations to the winner!!! And stay tuned for the next event friend... See more

She was not like the other girls, he was a performative male. Can I make it any more obvious?

The new trend in peacocking among men is to be a “performative male,” meaning they are very visibly into activities that feminist women love. They listen to female artists like Clairo or beabadoobee, drink matcha, and read feminist literature. They might actually like this stuff but these signifiers are mostly used to attract women. 

The performative male is a descendant of the metrosexual and the male manipulator. He is the twin flame to those who are not like other girls. Like how this kind of girl might be reading in the middle of a One Direction concert, trying to attract the members with her nonchalance, the performative male is trying to be casual about his feminist theory knowledge while reading all about love on the subway. 

He likes things that cool girls like, and he thinks it’s so lame that these other manospheric meatheads don’t respect women like he does. He, of course, has a roster of women that he lovebombs and gaslights — but in a sexually liberated, chill way. Another way you can describe this guy is progressive for clout.

The performative male is mostly a joke. In a move akin to last year’s wave of lookalike contests, performative male contests are starting to crop up around the world, from New York to Jakarta. The latter received some backlash because — surprise! — the winner is a guy who people think is legitimately performatively woke. Sigh.

Anyways, if anyone hears of any more performative male contests, HMU.

The woman with the 24k Labubu got milkshake ducked

@lilzbullzofficial

I’m sorry to every person I have offended it wasn’t in my plans to do that ❤️

Yikes. The woman who went viral for trolling people with different “exclusive” Labubus made a racist “KSI Labubu,” made to resemble one of the most well-known Black British influencers in the world. In a now-deleted video, this woman showed off the Labubu, which she painted black and wrapped in a red bandana.

Naturally, she received a lot of backlash for this because it's a blackface Labubu. Instead of trying to match the toy to KSI’s actual skin color, she made it jet black. 

This incident is reminiscent of the Youthforia foundation controversy from last year. The makeup brand received criticism for not making deep foundation shades that were inclusive of Black consumers. In a failed attempt at redressing this issue, they made a face product that more closely aligned to black face paint than any person’s actual complexion. The company, like this Labubu creator, did not seem to recognize that everyone has an undertone to their skin. 

The Labubu woman made an apology video saying “my intention was not for it to come across as racist at all.” I think it’s safe to say the exclusive Labubu jokes are over. 

What is wrong with Love Island men?

@whitneyadebay0

Last week, JaNa Craig and Kenny Rodriguez from season 6 of Love Island USA broke up, which other islanders insinuated was because Kenny was racist and clout chasing.

Now, another Black woman from the global franchise has opened up about her experience with racism from her former partner on the show. 

Love Island UK season 10 runner-up Whitney Adebayo alleged her ex Lochan Nowacki called her skin dirty, condoned his friends saying the N-word, and used her to advance himself. Lochan denied calling her dirty, claiming the scenario she described was taken out of context, but has not yet responded to the other issues. 

Whitney has been dragged for speaking out against Lochan, with people calling her a liar, fake, and calculated. It is a stark contrast from how people reacted to JaNa and Kenny. Some people viewed this as an example of how the US and UK discuss and handle racism. Others felt like it revealed how people are willing to overlook harm if they don’t like the person experiencing it. 

I’ve written about the concept of a “gameplayer” on Love Island — post-mainstream saturation — several times over the past few years. For some, it meant that a person was only on the show for prize money. For others, it meant that a contestant was looking to launch their influencer careers. In the case of Kenny and Lochan, if the allegations are true, a third, more sinister kind of gameplayer has been introduced into the franchise: Con men looking to exploit the popularity of Black women.

Black women are often the fan favorites on Love Island across global franchises but have long been subjected to racism on the show. While people under Whitney’s comments seem to forget this, she was beloved on the show and carried Lochan, who came halfway through the season, to second place. It is extremely disturbing to hear that he and Kenny seemingly played the long game by using their relationships to popular Black women to launch their careers, only to discard them a year later.

These breakups will no doubt be in the back of viewers' minds as they continue to watch Love Island in the coming years, adding another lens through which we view these on-screen relationships as “genuine” or not.

Every Monday letter gets a playlist. Listen, don’t shoot the messenger. I hate that these wonderful artists have been co-opted by the performative male too. But the following artists have undoubtedly become a part of the meme.

In this week’s playlist:

• Juna - Clairo

• Beaches - beabadoobee

• No One Noticed - The Marias

• Scott Street - Phoebe Bridgers

• Promise - Laufey

• First Love/Late Spring - Mitski

• Shadowboxer - Fiona Apple

• Let the Light In - Lana Del Rey ft. Father John Misty

Other things I want to share with you.

• The Columbus Metropolitan Library in Ohio published a reading list based on what a recently passed patron named Dan Pelzer read throughout his lifetime. The man, who died at 92 last month, read over 3,500 books since he began logging his reads in 1962! His family scanned his entire list, from Moby Dick to I’m Glad My Mom Died, here. How wonderful it is to have a gift like this. 

• IHOP gave away $130 dubai chocolate pancakes today in New York, Austin, and Los Angeles. What have we come to as a society…

• Julie Bowen is promoting her skincare line for tween and teen boys by doing the Nicki Minaj pose on TikTok. This is excellent.

• Amid Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle ad debacle, it was reported that she is a registered Republican in the state of Florida. 

• This is how the girlies afford having a Euro Summer. 

• The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is shutting down. This is not the end for public media but it’s a good time to donate to your local public radio or TV station.