The Alpha Male - Fact or Fiction?
After posing the question to my fellow readers, "What is It With Guys And Poker", I was informed that it had something to do with the quest for men to be the "Alpha Male". After nodding and agreeing, I spent a little more time thinking about it.
Wikipedia defines the "Alpha Male" as "an individual in the community whom the others follow and defer to." The term "Alpha Male" emerged in the 1930's when researching animal behaviour. When observing a pack of wolves, they identified "the Alpha Male" because he was the one that was allowed to eat first, and the only wolf allowed to mate. When observing a group of Chimpanzees, it was found that the "Alpha Male" would usually be identified as the Chimp who was allowed to walk first in procession.
So why has this term "Alpha Male" re-emerged as a term used to describe a human? What does it mean to be "An Alpha Male" and does it really have an effect on the human "pecking order"? Importantly:
"Can a male consciously strive to become an Alpha Male or is it a role which society subconsciously gives to someone with certainly qualities and characteristics? What does it really take to be an Alpha Male?"
As a female, I want to know what this term really means. If "the Alpha Male" really exists out there, how do I find him and what benefits can be derived from being in the company of an "Alpha Male"?
So many questions.
I did an all-important survey of the guys at work (thanks Dave and Jason) and asked them some questions - What is an Alpha Male? Do you know who your Alpha Male is in your group? What makes him the Alpha Male? What does he have that you dont have? Do you aim to become the Alpha Male in your group? In reviewing their answers to the above questions, I realised that the desire to be the Alpha Male is the desire to be liked by everyone. Its about popularity. Its about being the leader, not the follower. Its the loudest guy. Its the one that is always surrounded by many people. He is the one that dates the good looking women. He is the one that has the good looking female friends. He is the one that comes up with the great ideas for the poker night, or the boys night away.
He is "The Man".
So can a guy decide that he is the Alpha Male or does the group decide he is a Alpha Male? Is dominance simply a matter of "putting on the right face?" Apparently Al Gore was once advised by his Political Advors to run an "Alpha Male" campaign. Is this as silly as it sounds?
Wikipedia defines the "Alpha Male" as "an individual in the community whom the others follow and defer to." The term "Alpha Male" emerged in the 1930's when researching animal behaviour. When observing a pack of wolves, they identified "the Alpha Male" because he was the one that was allowed to eat first, and the only wolf allowed to mate. When observing a group of Chimpanzees, it was found that the "Alpha Male" would usually be identified as the Chimp who was allowed to walk first in procession.
So why has this term "Alpha Male" re-emerged as a term used to describe a human? What does it mean to be "An Alpha Male" and does it really have an effect on the human "pecking order"? Importantly:
"Can a male consciously strive to become an Alpha Male or is it a role which society subconsciously gives to someone with certainly qualities and characteristics? What does it really take to be an Alpha Male?"
As a female, I want to know what this term really means. If "the Alpha Male" really exists out there, how do I find him and what benefits can be derived from being in the company of an "Alpha Male"?
So many questions.
I did an all-important survey of the guys at work (thanks Dave and Jason) and asked them some questions - What is an Alpha Male? Do you know who your Alpha Male is in your group? What makes him the Alpha Male? What does he have that you dont have? Do you aim to become the Alpha Male in your group? In reviewing their answers to the above questions, I realised that the desire to be the Alpha Male is the desire to be liked by everyone. Its about popularity. Its about being the leader, not the follower. Its the loudest guy. Its the one that is always surrounded by many people. He is the one that dates the good looking women. He is the one that has the good looking female friends. He is the one that comes up with the great ideas for the poker night, or the boys night away.
He is "The Man".
So can a guy decide that he is the Alpha Male or does the group decide he is a Alpha Male? Is dominance simply a matter of "putting on the right face?" Apparently Al Gore was once advised by his Political Advors to run an "Alpha Male" campaign. Is this as silly as it sounds?
posted by KateOnTheGo at
9:44 PM
5 Comments:
Any help!Alpha males
Version 1.1, November 2002
Among many mammalian species, the dominant male, or alpha male, is the only one supposed to breed and have sexual intercourse. Lower-ranking males can occasionally sneak in and themselves gain access to females. But it's a forbidden act, and will likely be punished severely by the dominant male, if it comes to his attention. However, because even the most advanced species outside homo sapiens have no language or equivalent means to confer information, dominant males, as other members of any species other than homo sapiens, only know what they see themselves.
Human society isn't as extreme in structure as the societies of some species, in which only alpha males breed. But there is a typical tendency for alpha males to seek out as many sexual partners as possible, and genuine alpha males typically succeed to appropriate a much larger share of females than would be their "fair" allocation.
Human males who appropriate a disproportionate share of the females are nowadays not interested in making each of their conquests a permanent wife. The tendency is for a male to use a female a number of times, and then to discard her.
Therefore, in order to assess the degree of polygamous behavior of a certain man, we ought not to look at by how many females he is or has been bound into a permanent relationship at any given time, but solely at the number of different sexual partners he has ever had without getting married to.
For such a statistic, a one-night stand counts more than a lifelong exclusive relationship. It counts more because actually, in many human societies, it is easier to find a wife than a one-night stand (in all of the Middle East), and a man who marries is conceding much more than the one given permission for a single use.
A man who concedes to the conditions brought about by a marriage typically signs over to his wife much of his wealth and financial independence. Because this kind of behavior does require irrationality, there is, under ordinary circumstances, a high degree of reluctance on the part of men to be available for marriage. A marriage is a victory for the female partner, rather than a male conquest.
An alpha male, therefore, is defined as a man who gains access, or copulation rights, with as many women as possible, without allowing a woman the victory of becoming a man's wife.
Let's assume we have a group of 1000 men and 1000 women. Let's further assume that in this group, women have an average of 10 sexual partners during their life span. Of these, an average of 1.5 sexual relationships are with men who are their husbands. This then leaves an overall of 8500 sexual pairings to be counted in establishing our statistics.
My hypothesis is that some 50 men account for more than 5000 of these 8500 pairings.
Some men definitely are more popular with women than others. They are not just a bit more popular.
I assume that in any given society, some 80 percent of the women strive for just 5 percent of the men. But these 5 percent are chronically difficult to bind into permanent relationships, which is why most women, while being occasionally available to alpha males, also settle into permanent relationships with beta (just average and willing to marry) or gamma (below average, but willing to marry) specimens of the species.
I'm Alpha, definitely, but kind, considerate and literate, not a just a club-wielding he-man with good genes. I'm ready for fertile procreation, or just something short of that...
LOL! ;-)
Ever seen a pack of Husky sled dogs? How one becomes the leader of the team --they can be quite vicious dogs in determining hierarchy. And how the lead alpha dog listens very obediently to its master, the alpha human male? Not always the loudest or most obnoxious or most hunky guy or animal --there is a tremendous amount of intelligence, insight and strategic thinking that makes up the alpha male, human or non-human.
Tom Cruise in "Magnolia" plays a character that thinks he's an alpha male, but he's just a big prick (and discovers this later). It's a hell of a movie. For the record, I am not a Tom Cruise fan at all, but he does an amazing job in this role.
HAHAHAH "Anonymous Man of Mystery" - I bet you have a problem with monogamy too, like the other 5 per cent of Alpha Males out there.
"Tap Tap Tap" smirked the alpha male.
Maybe a little problem with monogamy. But it's vastly more complex than that. My feeling is that man and women alike are, at various times and for various reasons, receptive to partners outside of their committed monogamous relationship. By "partner", I intend to mean anything from a quick 20-minute toss in the hay to, for those in relationships with deep emotional problems, etc., a nearly complete partner overall (i.e., some people "stuck" in bad relationships for a very long time often also have long-term outside affairs which provide them with the love, regularity and sex that the so-called normal committed relationship doesn't).
What I'm saying is that it's a complex topic --both men and women have "problems" with monogamy at certain times, to a greater or lesser extent, and for different reasons. We're complicated beings! I think, however, that there is, in Western cultures, sort of a culture or expecatation (or something like that) that many men will "stray", whereas it's not nearly as socially acceptable for women, who are cast in the role of "good wife/wise mother". Surf the internet for porn sometime, for a purely research point of view. There are a HUGE number of women working in porn around the world, who are screwing many many many partners weekly/monthly. Think about it. Rocco Siffredi, the great Italian pornstar, who has gained mainstream acceptance in the movie business and even won numerous respected accolades for his career in film, is married to a pornstar (female) and has two children.
In short, telationships, and the people in them (whether male-male, male-female, female-female, etc. --and yes, even transexual relationships) are complex too! So, maybe I do sometimes have a problem with "monogamy", but I'm not alone in this! Fascinating subject, really...
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home