Performative activism is caused by “the allure of popularity, of love, of people adoring you, it’s a siren’s call,” said senior English major William Thaxton.
Photo courtesy of Kaycee Carter
By Secilia Ruiz and Julia Birdsall
Social media and protests are some of the main ways that people get involved in activism today.
However, not everyone does this with selfless intention.
Performative activism is when one involves themself with a social movement in a way that benefits them but not the movement they claim to support.
“When it’s performative, it can come off a lot more like self-serving, or it can come off a lot more like you’re just here for the flashiness, but there’s no real work happening after,” said Harrison Lundy, the public policy director for Voices of Florida and a volunteer for 5051 Florida.
It’s like putting on a mask, Elise Prophete, junior political science and sustainability major and Governor of the University of South Florida St. Petersburg’s student government, told The Crow’s Nest.
When engaging in performative activism “we’re not allowing ourselves to be vulnerable and be at risk for the things we care about,” Prophete said. “We’re not allowing ourselves to truly care about them.”
Performative activism has the effect of boosting one’s own social credit while devaluing a social movement.
“It turns [a movement] from something that actually focuses on the issues to a popularity contest, to a holier-than-thou symposium,” senior English major William Thaxton said.
Lundy used pinkwashing as an example.
Pinkwashing occurs when corporations market LGBTQ+ themed merchandise during Pride Month, but don’t do anything to engage with or provide resources for issues that plague the LGBTQ+ community.
“[It] takes away from the real struggles that LGBTQ people face in Florida and across the country,” said Lundy.
Karin Woodbury, a USF St. Petersburg alumna, stated that performative activism is like most trends, which often fizzle out.
Woodbury told The Crow’s Nest that this can be detrimental to certain issues because it decreases their visibility at a time when people need to pay attention.
“On one hand, I do understand that, because people kind of have a limited amount of bandwidth,” Woodbury said. “You can only care so much about certain issues, but it’s still not great to ignore these issues that are happening.”
Woodbury cited the genocide in Palestine as an example.
“It’s not being talked about as much anymore,” Woodbury told The Crow’s Nest. “Once Israel issued a ‘ceasefire’ — even though they’re not ceasing any fire, you know — everyone was like, ‘Oh, issue’s over, on to whatever the next big hot-button topic is.’”
Social media plays a large role in the prevalence of performative activism, said Thaxton.
“The information age, social media, especially, has made performative activism much more visible and thus, you get a lot more eyeballs on you,” they said. “Because remember, at the end of the day, performative activism is all about self-interest, not about the interests of [others].”
However, Lundy believes performative activism can sometimes be a doorway into genuine activism.
He believes that one of the reasons that performative activism may occur is due to a lack of resources or access, but providing that access can allow people to make the transition.
Activism occurs when one identifies an issue that they want to see change to and organizes themselves and others to enact that change, said Prophete.
“Sometimes it’s about correcting people whenever they talk about certain issues… and trying to start that important dialogue,” Woodbury said. “Or not supporting certain businesses that directly affect certain issues. So, it’s small gestures like that that can sort of build into bigger movements.”
This does not just apply to one issue.
“People have different topics that they’re passionate about and it’s really inclusive in that way,” Lundy told The Crow’s Nest. “So, people are able to bring their own skills and their own knowledge to the space.”
Activism can benefit individuals just as much as communities.
“It helps you look outside of yourself,” Prophete said. “It helps you build power in systems that don’t always favor individuals, and usually favor like corporations or entities that just have money.”
Woodbury agreed, stating that people’s stress and anger in regard to issues that plague their communities can be turned into action that prevents those emotions from “festering.”
“I’m able to actually put these motivations and emotions towards bettering my own neighborhood,” she said.
While getting more involved in activism, Thaxton believes personal mental health should always come first.
“You can’t save anyone if you can’t save yourselves first,” they said.
Students and community activists echoed a similar sentiment: There are ways that people can engage with activism every day and it can look different for everyone.
“It’s very important that we recognize that activism isn’t just the signs and the videos and the big marches,” Lundy said. “It really is kind of the work that doesn’t always get noticed, but it’s still incredibly important.”
