Manosphere misogynists like to tell themselves fairy tales about women. Their favorite such tale, repeated endlessly, is one called “The Cock Carousel” – sometimes referred to in expanded form as the “Alpha Asshole Cock Carousel” or the “Bad Boy Cock Carousel.” (Hence that Rooster-riding gal you see in this blog’s header about half the time.)
Despite the different names, the story is always, monotonously, the same: In their late teens and twenties, when they’re at the height of their sexual appeal, women (or at least the overwhelming majority of them) have sex in rapid succession with an assortment of charismatic but unreliable alpha males and “bad boys” who make their vaginas (or just ‘ginas) tingle. Then, sometime in their mid-to-late twenties, these women “hit the wall,” with their so-called sexual market value (or SMV) dropping faster than Facebook’s stock price. As Roissy/Heartiste puts it, in his typically overheated prose:
So sad, so tragic, the inevitable slide into sexual worthlessness that accompanies women, the withering tick tock of the cosmic clock stripping their beauty in flayed bits of soulletting mignons like psychological ling chi. A sadistic thief in the night etching, billowing, draping and sagging a new affront to her most preciously guarded asset.
While many women try to pretend they’ve still “got it,” even at the ripe old age of thirty, they inevitably have to either get off or get thrown off the “cock carousel.” At this point the more savvy women glom onto some convenient “beta male” who, while somewhat lacking in sexual appeal, will at least be a good husband and provider for them – and in many cases the children they’ve had with alpha male seed. Those women who don’t accept the new reality are destined to end up alone and childless, surrounded by cats.
To borrow the phrase South Park used in its episodes about Scientology and Mormonism, this is what manosphere men actually believe. Not only that, but they claim that this fairy tale is based on real science.
So who are these mysterious alpha males that get the women so excited? As one guide to pickup artist (PUA) lingo puts it:
In animal hierarchies, the Alpha Male is the most dominant, and typically the physically strongest member of the group. For example, in wolf packs, the “alpha wolf” is the strongest member of the pack, and is the leader of the group. This position of leadership is often achieved by killing or defeating the previous Alpha Male in combat. Alpha wolves have first access to food as well as mating privileges with the females of the pack.
Social status among human social groups is less rigidly defined than in the animal kingdom, but there are some recognizable parallels. Although people don’t often engage in physical violence to achieve dominance, there are still recognizable leaders in different fields who have wide access to material resources and women.
Because the qualities of the Alpha Male (such as social dominance and leadership) are attractive to women, many PUAs have adopted these ideals as models of emulation. In fact, the term “alpha” has come be shorthand for the qualities of an attractive man, and it is a common refrain among PUAs to be “more alpha” or to “out alpha” competitors.
There’s a certain logic to all this. But unfortunately for the PUAs and other manospherians the notion of the Alpha male is based on bad science. The notion of Alpha dominance, as the definition above notes, came originally from studies of wolf packs. Even if we assume that wolf behavior is somehow a good model upon which to base our understanding of human romance – as manosphere men and evolutionary psychologists tend to do – the science behind the Alpha male wolf has now come completely undone, with many of those who promulgated the theory in the first place decades ago now explicitly repudiating it.
The problem, you see, is that the studies underlying the notion of the alpha male wolf, who aggressively asserts his dominance over beta males in order to rule the pack, were all based on observations of wolves in captivity. In the real world, wolf packs don’t work that way at all. Most wolf packs are basically wolf families, with a breeding pair and their pups. When male pups reach adulthood, they don’t fight their fathers for dominance — they go out and start their own families.
As noted wolf behavior expert L. David Mech, one of those who helped to establish and popularize the notion of the alpha wolf in the first place, explains on his website:
The concept of the alpha wolf is well ingrained in the popular wolf literature at least partly because of my book “The Wolf: Ecology and Behavior of an Endangered Species,” written in 1968, published in 1970, republished in paperback in 1981, and currently still in print, despite my numerous pleas to the publisher to stop publishing it. Although most of the book’s info is still accurate, much is outdated. We have learned more about wolves in the last 40 years then in all of previous history.
One of the outdated pieces of information is the concept of the alpha wolf. “Alpha” implies competing with others and becoming top dog by winning a contest or battle. However, most wolves who lead packs achieved their position simply by mating and producing pups, which then became their pack. In other words they are merely breeders, or parents, and that’s all we call them today, the “breeding male,” “breeding female,” or “male parent,” “female parent,” or the “adult male” or “adult female.” In the rare packs that include more than one breeding animal, the “dominant breeder” can be called that, and any breeding daughter can be called a “subordinate breeder.”
So the dominant male wolves – those whom manosphere dudes would still call the alphas – achieve this position not by being sexy badasses but simply by siring and taking responsibility for pups. To use the terminology in the manner of manosphere dudes, alphas become alphas by acting like betas. That’s right: alphas are betas. (For more of the details, see this paper by Mech; it’s in pdf form.)
Also, they’re wolves and not humans, but that’s a whole other kettle of anthropomorphized fish.
Also, I’ve BEEN suicidally depressed. I used some pretty nasty ways to self-medicate for it, including starvation and beating my hands against concrete.
ASK ME WHAT I DIDN’T DO.
I quote LBT,
“I suppose if he’s miserable, he might as well be SUCCESSFUL and miserable”
It just reminds of… Well, myself.
All my friends advised me to go for eastern women if i ever wanted to marry because they are generally more faithful. I’ve been mocked for even wanting to get married in the first place. I dont know if that true, but i doubt i can trust ANY women ever again but that ache for love is still there in the back of my mind.
What i am is nobody’s fault. I cant deal with heartbreak ever again. So i just avoid it by having casual sex because it satisfies my physical needs. Im not really miserable but i dont/cant have the things i really want.
I dont expect a pity party or anything, really. A drunken post lead to all this. I guess i subconsciously wanted to unload all that baggage somewhere. It all just came out unexpectedly.
RE: Asixpack
Dude. Get therapy and fuck off. Stop splashing your issues on women.
HellKelloggofacereal,
I did not want to convince anyone or expect anyone to comfort me. The whole post was an accident and you can delete it if you want. I guess drunk me just wanted to unload the baggage. I never told anyone my story in college. Only a few close friends know. So, i have no idea why i even posted here. Sorry to know you have a reading problem. Get help.
wut
Asixpack – if you know someone who mocks you for *wanting to get married*, scrape ’em off. They’re bad for your health. If you want to get married, that’s perfectly all right. But seeing all women (or the ones you’re attracted to) as potential sources of heartbreak, and treating them like disposable sex toys as a result, is ALSO bad for your health. I didn’t get “serious” about anyone (in a settling down, getting married sense) until I was out of college, working full time, and living an adult life. It lasted five years, until the night I watched him die in a hospital bed.
So, yeah, I understand heartbreak.
But my second husband and I recently commemorated the twentieth anniversary of the night we met. Second marriages are the triumph of hope over experience. Don’t coarsen your soul to the point where hope cannot triumph.
Um, OK.
“All my friends advised me to go for eastern women if i ever wanted to marry because they are generally more faithful.”
TRANSLATION: Easier to control. Docile.
Wow, how racist and sexist. Your “friends” sound like douchebags.I can’t believe you’re telling us this shit, by the by.
“I’ve been mocked for even wanting to get married in the first place. I dont know if that true, but i doubt i can trust ANY women ever again but that ache for love is still there in the back of my mind.”
I think you want us to buffer your fee-fees here. I mean, we’re mostly women, right (we’re not all women here, but you seem to think we are)? We’re suppose to convince you that love is worth having, right? And any woman would be lucky to have you! No, no, no! Please don’t stop looking for love! You’re special because you’re male and still want to be married!!!!
Nope. Not our job, fella.
Assfax:
The problem isn’t mine, jagoff. Fuck off. Go call your mommy and cry to her, no one here is interested.
Good luck with those “eastern” women. They’ll hand you your sadsack sorry ass.
RE: Asixpack
I guess drunk me just wanted to unload the baggage. I never told anyone my story in college.
Most colleges have a health center with counseling services. You know, people who are trained to actually give a shit about your sorry ass.
You say you don’t want comfort, then why are you still fucking whining? GROW THE FUCK UP. We’re not your shrink; you have to PAY US for that.
@LBT,
I dont want your pity. Im sorry to know you were raped. I did not want to come off as a rapist. I cheat with women NOT rape them. I always wait for vocal approval during seduction before *going in* and i always use a condom.
I was hurt and i dont expect others to comfort me. I just do what the women want to do – cheat. Its better for their boyfriends to get over it and realize that their faithful women are NOT who they think they are. Im just doing a service to those guys. Some of the times i make sure the guy somehow gets to know about the cheating *if she is not single.
Im genuinly sorry what you went through. I used to be groped and spanked by my babysitter who was a teen girl when i was a kid. My parents didnt believe me and sometimes it still haunts me. I know what you went through and empathize with you. I dont know if that contributed to my distrust for women but i know it wasnt a happy experience.
I didnt want for all this to happen. But i still thank everone who showed sympathy just because it somehow feels good to know someone cares. Im not sure about getting therapy but i guess my life does needs a new purpouse. I guess getting a college degree is also part of my plan. Then i guess a job which gets me money will get me more sluts to fu(k. I hope to someday grow out of the whole family and love thing. Maybe things will be different once im older, but i dont see myself changing anytime soon.
I guess we can blame all those films with the stereotypical Manic Dream Pixie Girls for sixers’ repeat posts. We’re suppose to reinvigorate his heart and tell him what a great guy he is, thereby making him willing to risk anything for love.
And I gotta tell ya, **looking around** I don’t see any MDPG’s here.
Asixpack, it’s not at all hard to stop being misogynistic. You shouldn’t be making any excuses for yourself.
How charming! “…more sluts to fuck…” Good luck with that, sixer. Why can’t more people on this post be nicer to you?
Once again, we don’t care if you renounce marriage. I don’t think anyone here has an investment in whether or not you persue marriage. You’re not getting revenge on us woman-folk for saying you won’t marry.
Sadsackpack – if you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting.
Which doesn’t seem to be making you happy, no matter how many ‘sluts’ you manage to have sex with, or at, or to. Nobody here is going to pat you on the head and say, “you poor thing”. This may shock or confuse you, but you are responsible for your own actions. When you grow up enough to take that seriously, get help. I did, lots of people here (and everywhere!) have. The first step is admitting you have a problem, and sweet blue Krishna do you have one.
@robert
Well they are the only family i have now. My father is abusive and my mother is controlling. They fight every week. I have only my friends as my family now. I cant let go of them.
Happy to know it worked out for you. 🙂
RE: Asixpack
I just do what the women want to do – cheat.
You think about your mother that way? Your sister? I don’t. That’s not women, sunshine, that’s YOU.
Its better for their boyfriends to get over it and realize that their faithful women are NOT who they think they are.
Because that’s working so well for you, am I right? You seem so fucking happy and all.
Im not sure about getting therapy but i guess my life does needs a new purpouse.
Then I have absolutely no sympathy for you. If you don’t get help, that’s on you. All of this is on you. Not women, you.
Then i guess a job which gets me money will get me more sluts to fu(k.
Yeah, have fun with that. I hear getting a fancy car will cure depression too. Dumbass. You’re going to all these elaborate lengths to cure yourself, but you won’t go to a brain doctor? Seriously?
Maybe things will be different once im older, but i dont see myself changing anytime soon.
And that is why I find you absolutely repellant. You’re miserable but don’t want to change, have no intention of changing, and keep sobbing your baggage on us like we’re your mother. Go piss in a fire.
RE: Asixpack
I have only my friends as my family now.
Hint: they aren’t your friends. Do you really think people who treat women the way they do will treat you any better?
Waaahhhh, why won’t you be my mommies? Waahhhh, I treat women like shit but still expect them to take care of me. Waaahhh, could I be any more racist? Waaahhh, I’m a selfish little brat, why doesn’t that make women love me?
RE: cassandrakitty
I know, right? I’m going to go hug my husband now, because he’s a wonderful man who can have sex without treating it like some gross revenge fantasy.
Troll? Probably, maybe, could be.
Who knows? Who cares? Either way I vote that we punt his obnoxious ass into the center of the sun.
(Or just hand him over to my sister in law. She’s having a tough week, watch what happens if he calls her “Eastern”.)
Guys, I think this requires me to re-institute my policy of, whenever a really gross person shows up, I write something completely opposite to rebalance the world.
What do you think this guy should be balanced by, eh? Happy poly porn?
Uhh.. Whatever. Admin, just delete all of posts. Pretend this didnt happen. I dont care what you people think.
I don’t care! That’s why I keep telling you more and more details! BE MY MOMMY!