Alpha – it seems to be one of the greatest buzzwords of our generation and gets thrown around as loosely as my phone does once there’s a single crack in the screen. Widely championed as the ultimate, albeit self-ascribed, indication of dominance and traditional masculinity, the notion of an ‘alpha male’ is praised by men and women alike. But whilst this archetype may seem harmless at surface level – and whilst I love a sickening alpha wolf meme as much as the next chronically online girl – could it be hiding something more sinister? And could its entire origin story be a biological fallacy?
Whilst it is unsurprisingly not a subject of much scholarly research, there certainly seems to have been an increase in recent years in the number of men on reality romance TV shows self-identifying as ‘alpha males’. Take this year’s season of Married at First Sight for example (I know, I know, this edition’s theme is Love Island, but tragically I think MAFS provides some more substantive examples for this discussion). Now, whilst I have never been inclined to properly watch MAFS, and even less so after learning of the ways in which this season has enabled abuse, I will admit I find it psychologically fascinating. I recall being at my parent’s house earlier this year when a promotional ad came on featuring MAFS 2025 participant Ryan, who was quick to proclaim himself as strong, successful and handsome, with a ‘warrior’s mindset’ (nauseating stuff, I know). He lamented the absence of true ‘warriors’ and ‘philosophers’ in modern society (it was very much giving ‘bring back real men’). I immediately said what I hope most people reading this now are thinking – ‘what a wanker’. My Dad jokingly (I hope) replied that he was just down to earth, to which I retorted that it must be pretty easy to stay down to earth when your head is that far up your own arse.
The Alpha Male Fallacy
All jokes aside though, Ryan’s self-perception is a prime example of the alpha male fallacy. So, what, supposedly at least, is an alpha male? According to those who champion the archetype, alpha males are regarded as men that are confident, assertive, successful, and physically and intellectually dominant, with the notion originating from the biological phenomenon of alpha males observed in packs of animals like wolves and chimps. The theory of an ‘alpha wolf’, however, is derived from a 1970s study that was later refuted by the very same researcher who published it – David Mech. Upon trying to recreate his original findings that each pack had an ‘alpha male’ who dominated amongst the group, Mech realised that his original observations were of the parent wolves who were leading and caring for the cubs of the pack. Whilst die-hard believers in the biological origins of ‘alpha male’ mentality will counter this by saying there is stronger evidence in the study of primates, such as chimps, this too has been refuted by research.
Whilst in nature the size and strength of animals can certainly influence their position within a group, these are not the only factors that can do so, as alpha male apologists might have you believe. Recent research has shown that, even amongst primates, sociability and grooming others can lead to the attainment of social status. This evidence affirms a sociological concept known as dual strategies theory, which argues that status can be achieved in social hierarchies either through dominance or prestige. Where dominance involves gaining influence through intimidation, aggression, and even coercion, prestige refers to voluntary respect of a social group earnt through the demonstration of skills, knowledge, and emotional intelligence. Now let me be clear here: I am by no means suggesting that we should all worship prestige instead as the epitome of social status or masculinity. To co-opt any understandings from nature and apply them strictly to human society would be reductive and fail to account for the sheer range and variation of social hierarchies in our world. For example, a person who has achieved ‘alpha male’ status at their job as an investment banker, regardless of whether that is through dominance or prestige, may well hold no such status in a blue-collar job on a construction site.
The Other Side of the Coin
Let’s take a look at another of this year’s supposedly eligible MAFS bachelors, shall we? Enter Eliot, a man with an exceedingly high opinion of himself who stated from the outset of the show that he would not be willing to settle for a ‘low-class’ woman. If there are not alarm bells going off in your head right now, then there should be. Alpha male mentality does not just affect how men perceive themselves and other males but enforces an adjacent set of expectations onto the women they interact with. These expectations typically demand modesty, humility, discretion, and ultimately an acquiescence to the will and preferences of the ‘alpha’ in question, all repackaged as the much more palatable notion of ‘having class’.
What is really being said here is that a woman will have class if she behaves in a way that affirms this man’s illusion of dominance – anything else is classless, crass, and undesirable. In doing so, self-identified alpha males obfuscate responsibility for their own insecurities onto the women in their lives, expecting them to conform to patriarchal notions of femininity so that their own fragile masculinity remains unthreatened.
Now listen, if you think your personality organically aligns with what the patriarchy considers feminine – quiet, humble and sweet – that is one thing. But if you are feeling pressured to pretend it does so as not to threaten Gym Bro Joe’s misguided notion of manhood? Oh, hell no.
I want to stress that all this is not to say that women are responsible for singlehandedly debunking the fallacy of the alpha male. To any men reading this, if one of your bros talks about going to the gym to repress his feelings or (God forbid) listening to an Andrew Tate-esque podcast, please gently suggest he try therapy instead. Because at the end of the day, the alpha male mentality is not as simple or innocuous as men simply having goals – it is a pipeline that enables them to eventually justify the control and abuse of women for the sake of their own ego. It is no coincidence that the popularity of the ‘alpha male’ mentality comes in a period of increasing right-wing political ideology around the world either. So, since the right loves to talk so much about biological reality, here’s one for you: there is no such thing as an alpha male. To pretend otherwise is to doom men to emotional repression and isolation, and women to dangerous consequences that follow.
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Sources
- https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/the_myth_of_the_alpha_male
- https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090202174958.htm
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1090513824000011https://www.michigandaily.com/statement/a-crash-course-on-alpha-males/
- https://medium.com/bouncin-and-behavin-blogs/how-the-alpha-male-fallacy-dooms-men-to-a-life-of-misery-and-solitude-aac7f4b68176
- https://www.calm.com/blog/alpha-malehttps://www.jstor.org/stable/26382319?seq=1
