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.
Wow, WTF is that “Thought” Catalog article?
straw not star
No copy pasta for me, thanks.
I’m off for a picnic.
Toodles!
Women are a hivemind! Some women are traditionalists who want doors held for them, and other women are feminists, therefore all women want both liberation and tradition! Science!
(That was sarcasm, Robert, in case you couldn’t tell. I’ve never seen a feminist demand doors held or meals paid for, since we tend to think of those things as rooted in the belief that women are inherently weak. Don’t even get me started on the lifeboat thing; that wasn’t actually maritime custom, it just got famous because they did it on the Titanic)
Feminist feminist feministfeministfeminitsts…are you invoking Bloody Mary or something?
I’d ask for citations, but based on the above, you don’t even seem to know whether your sources agree with you or with the commenters here, and I’d hate for you to embarrass yourself further.
Do you even know what religion is? Feminism is missing a rather crucial element. Can you guess what it is?
I’m not sure whether to be annoyed that you find fat acceptance laughable, or amused that it’s apparently the worst consequence of feminism you could come up with.
At this point it’s pretty clear you don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. Your criticisms of feminism are literally decades old and don’t reflect actual feminist thought – which is what happens when you get all your information from people pushing an anti-feminist agenda instead of reading or talking to actual feminists. That you expect to be taken seriously while waving your ignorance like a flag indicates either a massive fucking ego or a disconnect from reality.
I’ve provided plenty of proof alphas exist. Alpha males are not a myth. Bye.
NotMe, I challenge YOU.
I am the Robert here. Please pick a different nym; even Robert2 would do. But if you’re going to stick around, we need a better way to tell us apart.
@emilygoddess
In case you didn’t know, this site you’re posting on and spreading this false information that alpha males are a myth, is a feminist website.
No. I am perfectly capable of opening a door for myself. If someone wants to open a door for me, I say thank you. I also open doors for other people quite often. Sometimes even for dudes.
No. I always offer to pay for my own meal on a date. The only reason I ever don’t is when the man is insistent I don’t.
No. There need to be enough lifeboats for everyone.
Signed,
A feminist
Is your head exploded yet?
@ The fake Robert
I’ll see your alpha male lions and raise you a clan of hyenas!
Also, that Body Language University (lol) link has bullet points that make ‘alpha males’ sound like assholes, abusers, and rapists.
For example:
“He freely touches others in the group, without expressed or implied permission”
and
“He might intimidate by staring, or he could simply use the unnerving tactic to demand attention”
or
“He’ll unapologetically interrupt conversations or monologues.”
Yeah, all of the red flags. ALL OF THEM. And it’s so full of so much debunked evo psych bull shit, none of which is cited, that it’s hard to believe it isn’t a parody.
From the about page “Hi, my name is Tonya Reiman. I am the author of “The Power of Body Language” and a media expert. I am the featured body language expert on The O’Reilly Factor.”
The O’Reilly Factor… That makes sense! Alpha males are like the tides! You can’t explain that!
And that pdf you linked to?
“Our results suggest that dominance hierarchy formation is a much richer and more complex phenomenon than previously thought…”
a much richer and more complex phenomenon than previously thought
a much richer and more complex phenomenon than previously thought
a much richer and more complex phenomenon than previously thought
You mean, like, it can’t be distilled down to ALPHA MALES?
Dear CheapKnockoffRobert – You are boring. You are also not an “alpha”, because they don’t exist. Even if they did, you wouldn’t be one, because you’re much too whiny and annoying. And also not a wolf. Now go make your own sandwich.
No love,
Feminism
Welp. I’m convinced. :rolleyes:
tl;dr – a shorter fake Robert – Alphas are REAL cuz my fee fees tell me so (facts are misandry), how dare you break the dream!!!1!!1!
It’s OK, little FakeRobert buddy. You can listen to Winds of Change and whistle along with your lighter held aloft while pretending that feminism is the Berlin Wall if it makes you feel better.
@grumpycatisagirl
1. Lets not pretend that most woman in the western world don’t expect men to open doors for them on a date. Equality with all the female ‘privileges’.
2. Have you ever insisted on paying for the date?
3. Society expects men to sacrifice themselves if a situation arises where only one can live. If the man saves himself he’ll be seen with disdain from many and if the woman lives she’d be showered with sympathy and support.
_______________________
@fromafar2013
So you agree alphas exist in lions?
As for the .pdf.
“Linear hierarchies, the classical pecking-order structures, are
formed readily in both nature and the laboratory in a great range of species including humans.”
“a much richer and more complex phenomenon than previously thought”
Simply means it’s not as simple as physically fighting and winning thereby becoming the leader.
“You mean, like, it can’t be distilled down to ALPHA MALES?”
You’re reading comprehension is not strong and your understanding of the term ‘alpha’ seems very limited to chest thumping.
_______________________
@cassandrakitty
Resorting to personal attacks, I guess that means you’ve reached your intellectual ceiling.
Much love,
Robert
Keep the dream of future alphaness alive, little buddy!
So, Not-Robert has stated both this:
And this:
So, Not-Robert has accused feminists of talking about equality and not treating others as equals and expecting women to be treated better, for instance, having doors held open. This is bad of feminists. This makes them hypocrites.
Then Not-Robert goes on to say not all people all equal.
How sad that Not-Robert has to grasp at straws like this. How full of hate-rage Not-Robert must be.
@OtherRobert:
@OtherRobert’sReadingOfThePaperOnCichlidFish:
@TheActualPaperOnCichlidFish:
ie: “Alpha” is a meaningless term in dominance hierarchies in fish, because the expected hierarchies change a statistically meaningful amount of times (which means no One True Alpha Fish exists, but the state is fluid), which means that the process is a combination of social dynamics and individual characteristics, which apply even more when the process is applied to human beings, which you’ll find that the authors of the report also state at the very end.
Also that more than merely 0 % of the time, a non-linear hierarchy developed. And what that does to the theory is profound in its implications.
OMG, there’s game for fish! Do they have their own Chateau Fartiste too? This totally proves that game works.
WTF. They’re just doors, dude. I can open them. Also “woman” is not the plural of “woman.”
Yes.
3. Society expects men to sacrifice themselves if a situation arises where only one can live. If the man saves himself he’ll be seen with disdain from many and if the woman lives she’d be showered with sympathy and support.
This is the least of the things wrong with your logic here, but society =/= feminism.
You’re not fooling anyone with your rank stupidity.
Citation needed. I find it incredibly awkward when people hold doors open for me. I also don’t understand how a social custom based on benevolent sexism is “female privilege.” Or that feminists are fighting to maintain the all-important “female privilege” of having doors held open for women, rather than reproductive rights or closing the gender wage gale or encouraging girls and women in the STEM fields or anything like that.
Yep. I just paid for my family’s meal this Tuesday. Your point?
Again, citation needed.
Oh no, gumdrop, this is mocking. You’re sad little world-view is being torn down by people who are much smarter than you.
No no, we can’t open doors. You see, the door-opening gene lives on the Y chromosome, right in between the not listening to anything women say gene and the trolling feminist blogs when you feel sad and insecure gene.
And Cool Robert, don’t worry. None of us could possibly confuse you with Not Cool Robert.
@OtherRobert:
@OtherRobert’sLinkToSocialGroups:
http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/primate-sociality-and-social-systems-58068905
OH MY GOD, NOT ALL PRIMATES ARE THE SAME? The male usually participates in off-spring care, unusual for male mammals? Differentiated social organization models varying between classes of genus? I feel faint! I must be getting the vapors! Forsooth!
Huh. I know several subsets of the internet dedicated to that topic and some very odd slash fiction.
Yeah, that’s more like it. That’ll prove the thesis. Now I just gotta forget about the titi monkeys, owl monkeys, the marmosets, the tamarins, the gibbons and the siamangs.
…. and the macagues, baboons, vervets, mangabeys, capuchins, squirrel monkeys, wooly monkeys, sifaka, ringtailed lemur and the colobine monkeys (Who are not from Colombine, interestingly enough).
Holy fuck this topic is complex and not at all a simple little “Feminists want to destroy alpha males which is why weak men flock to their debased religion!”.
Didn’t even know we had geunons.
Also those gibbons are right rat bastards
Let’s not pretend you wouldn’t complain just a much if a feminist told you “I don’t need you to hold that door for me, thanks”.