S’porean Man Declares Female F1 Fans Don’t Actually Like The Sport: “I Know For Sure You Women Don’t Like Watching Cars Go In Circles 200 Times”

A Singaporean TikToker, Nathaniel (natforshort_), recently got the Internet all riled up with one very hot take.

“The women equivalent to performative men is women who like F1,” he said.

The trending term “performative male” generally refers to a man who adopts an interest in things that are deemed progressive and popular to appear more attractive to women.

“If performative men are virtue signalling, overcompensating, attention seeking, Labubu-hanging matcha enjoyers, you might think the equivalent of performative women would be pick-mes,” said Nat.

“But no, the equivalent to performative men for women has got to be liking F1. Because I know for sure that you women don’t like watching cars go in circles 200 times when you can’t stand to watch 22 dudes chase one ball,” declared Nat.

God forbid female football fans exist as well, we suppose.

Why did he single out female F1 fans?

“F1 has been around since 1950, but only now, everyone’s into it. I know it’s because Netflix pumped billions into branding these drivers into K-drama male leads, but do you like the sport, or do you like the marketing?” he said.

Nat also believes the fact that F1 teams spend plenty of money to boost “the brand image of drivers”, helps the races look more appealing to a broader audience.

Nat himself acknowledged that his opinion is controversial and branded his clip as a “spicy take”. But he may have been the one who felt the burn in the end.

A TikToker, Ashley (f1withaj), who is a huge F1 fan, clapped back at Nat’s hot take.

Calling it “ridiculous”, she said: “His argument is basically that women don’t actually enjoy the sport, but we only like it because of the driver’s looks and how they are marketed and pushed out to look like “K-drama leads” all because Netflix made it trendy.”

She deemed his assumption “incredibly wrong” and “incredibly tone-deaf”.

To her, the things that performative males do are more about virtue signalling than actual passion.

“Now compare that to females in F1, a sport that has been male-dominated since the 1950s. To assume that we don’t actually like the sport, the strategy, or 'watching cars go around the track' is to erase the fact that women have been facing gatekeeping and misogyny in this space for just existing as fans,” said Ashley.

While she agrees that the Netflix show Drive To Survive did help make F1 more visible and appealing to the masses (both males and females, might we add), she does not equate accessibility to performativity. “Passion that grows when a sport becomes more visible is still passion,” she said.

She also brought up the point that females often face judgment for liking, well, any male-dominated sport.

Many of her viewers agreed with her. One netizen simply dropped this indisputable line: “I just hate the “performative” trend in general. They keep putting people in these tight boxes, it’s annoying. Just enjoy what you love.”

Other netizens were quick to disagree with Nat in his comments section, with some asking if his video was pure “rage bait”.

“Why can’t women genuinely like the sport without being hated on?” asked one female netizen, while another simply wrote: “I guess I can’t have any interest anymore.”

Some also questioned how a genuine interest makes someone “performative”.

A number patiently explained that there are women who have genuine interests in sports (surprise, suprise!), with some having grown up watching Formula 1, football, and basketball with their fathers and brothers.

One netizen quipped: “Do you think I yell at the TV just to be performative?”

How about we just let people — regardless of gender — enjoy whatever they want?

Photos: natforshort_/ TikTok, f1withaj/ TikTok

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