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Look up alpha male , beta male , delta male , gamma male , omega male , or sigma male in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Alpha male and beta male are pseudoscientific terms for men derived from the designations of alpha and beta animals in ethology. They may also be used with other genders, such as women, or additionally use other letters of the Greek alphabet (such as omega). The popularization of these terms to describe humans has been widely criticized by scientists. [1] [2]
Both terms have been frequently used in internet memes. [3] The term beta is used as a pejorative self-identifier among some members of the manosphere, particularly incels, who do not believe they are assertive or traditionally masculine, and feel overlooked by women. [4] [5] It is also used to negatively describe other men who are not deemed to be assertive, particularly with women. [3] [6]
In Internet culture, the term sigma male is also frequently used, gaining popularity c. 2021, but has since been used jokingly, often being used with incel .
The terms were used almost solely in animal ethology prior to the 1990s, particularly in regard to mating privileges with females, ability to hold territory, and hierarchy in terms of food consumption within their herd or flock. [7] In animal ethology, beta refers to an animal who is subordinate to a higher-ranking members in the social hierarchy, thus having to wait to eat and having fewer or negligible opportunities for copulation. [8]
In the 1982 book of Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex Among Apes, primatologist and ethologist Frans de Waal suggested that his observations of a chimpanzee colony could possibly be applied to human interactions. Some commentary on the book, including in the Chicago Tribune , discussed its parallels to human power hierarchies. In the early 1990s, some media outlets began to use the term alpha to refer to humans, specifically to "manly" men who excelled in business. Journalist Jesse Singal, writing in New York magazine, attributes the popular awareness of the terms to a 1999 Time magazine article, which described an opinion held by Naomi Wolf, who was at the time an advisor to then-presidential candidate Al Gore: "Wolf has argued internally that Gore is a 'Beta male' who needs to take on the 'Alpha male' in the Oval Office before the public will see him as the top dog." Singal also credits Neil Strauss's bestselling 2005 book on pickup artistry, titled The Game , for popularizing alpha male as an aspirational ideal. [9]
The view that there is a dominance hierarchy among humans consisting of "alpha males" and "beta males" is sometimes reported in the mainstream media. The term alpha male is often applied to any dominating man, especially bullies, [10] despite the fact that dominating behavior is rarely seen as a positive trait for either an ideal date or a romantic partner. [11] Claims about women being "hard-wired" to desire "alpha males" are seen by experts as misogynistic and stereotypical, and are not supported by research. [12] [13] [14] Evolutionary psychologists who study human mating behavior instead believe that humans use two distinct strategies – dominance and prestige –for climbing social hierarchies, and that prestige plays a significantly more important role in establishing men's attractiveness to women than does dominance. [11] Cognitive scientist Scott Barry Kaufman summarizes: [11]
Taken together, the research suggests that the ideal man (for a date or romantic partner) is one who is assertive, confident, easygoing, and sensitive, without being aggressive, demanding, dominant, quiet, shy, or submissive. In other words, a prestigious man, not a dominant man. In fact, it appears that the prestigious man who is high in both assertiveness and kindness is considered the most attractive to women for both short-term affairs and long-term relationships.
Misconceptions about "alpha males" are common within the manosphere, a collection of websites, blogs, and online forums promoting masculinity, strong opposition to feminism, and misogyny which includes movements such as the men's rights movement, incels (involuntary celibates), Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW), pick-up artists (PUA), and fathers' rights groups. [15] [4] [16] [17]
The term beta is also often used among manosphere communities to refer to men they consider easily taken advantage of or ignored by women. [18] [19] [20] Its usage is inconsistent; media studies scholar Debbie Ging has described the communities' theories about "alpha, beta, omega, and zeta masculinity" as "confused and contradictory". [19] Beta is sometimes used as self-identifier among men who do not embody hegemonic masculinity. [4] [5] It is also sometimes used by manospherians as a pejorative term for men who are or are perceived to be feminist, or who are thought to be acting as " white knights ". [21] Some manosphere groups refer to members of other groups in the manosphere as betas; for example, members of the MGTOW community sometimes use it to refer to men's rights activists or incels. [4] Members of the pickup artist (PUA) communities use it to refer to men who cannot seduce women. [22] Similar terms used by the manosphere communities include nice guy , cuck, simp , and soy boy . [18] [23] [24] [25]
In the manosphere, the term alpha fux beta bux presupposes a sexual strategy of hypergamy or "marrying up" among women whereby they prefer and have sex with "alpha" males but settle for less attractive "beta" males for financial reasons. [26] [27] Sometimes it expresses a belief that women marry beta males to exploit them financially, while continuing to have extramarital sex with alpha males. [19] [20] Ging explains these beliefs as an effort by young men in the Western world to cope with their limited economic prospects following the 2007–2008 financial crisis by appealing to gender-essentialist notions of gold-digging women popular in postfeminist culture. [26]
A beta orbiter is a beta male who invests time and effort into mingling with women in the hope of eventually getting into a romantic relationship or having sex with them. The term earned some media attention in 2019 with the murder of Bianca Devins. A man killed the 17-year-old Devins and posted photographs of her body online, one of which bore the caption, "sorry fuckers, you're going to have to find somebody else to orbit." [28] [29]
The term beta uprising or incel rebellion has been used largely among incels to refer to revenge by members of their community who have been overlooked by women. [30] It is also sometimes used to describe a movement to overthrow what they view as an oppressive, feminist society. [31] A 2018 vehicle-ramming attack in Toronto, Canada, was allegedly perpetrated by a man who had posted on his Facebook page just prior to the attack, "the Incel Rebellion has already begun". [31] Media outlets have used the terms beta uprising and incel rebellion to refer to acts of violence perpetrated by members of manosphere communities, particularly incels. [31] [19]
Sigma male is an internet slang term to describe masculine men. The term gained prominence within Internet culture during the late 2010s and early 2020s, and has inspired numerous memes, graffitis and videos. [32] It is used to denote a male who is equally dominant to an alpha male but exists outside the alpha-beta male hierarchy as a "lone wolf". In the manosphere, it is regarded as the "rarest" kind of male. [33] [34] [35] [36] In 2023, #sigma gained over 46 billion views on the social media platform TikTok. [37]
The term first appeared in a blog post by American writer Vox Day. [38] Later, California plastic surgeon John T. Alexander published the book The Sigma Male: What Women Really Want. In 2018, the term appeared on YouTube and in 2021 it went viral after a tweet by Lily Simpson. [39] [40] [41]
The term sigma male has also taken on an ironic and satirical meaning, often mocking the concept of the "manosphere" and the ideas of hustle culture with bizarre and nonsensical actions being considered part of the sigma male mindset or "grindset". [42] [43] On social media, the term is often used to describe idealistic, masculine fictional characters from films and TV shows. Notably, actor Christian Bale's portrayal of the character Patrick Bateman from the 2000 film American Psycho is often cited as an ideal representation of a "sigma male", both through memes and unironic discussion. [44] [45]
Beth Skwarecki, health editor of the weblog Lifehacker , describe the sigma male as a "bullshit concept from the incel world." [46] Due to the term's attribution to fictional film characters, it has been highlighted as promoting unrealistic personality and beauty standards.[ citation needed ]
Misogyny is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practised for thousands of years. It is reflected in art, literature, human societal structure, historical events, mythology, philosophy, and religion worldwide.
Misandry is the hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against men or boys.
Beta is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 2. In Ancient Greek, beta represented the voiced bilabial plosive IPA:[b]. In Modern Greek, it represents the voiced labiodental fricative IPA:[v] while IPA:[b] in borrowed words is instead commonly transcribed as μπ. Letters that arose from beta include the Roman letter ⟨B⟩ and the Cyrillic letters ⟨Б⟩ and ⟨В⟩.
The men's rights movement (MRM) is a branch of the men's movement. The MRM in particular consists of a variety of groups and individuals known as men's rights activists (MRAs) who focus on social issues, such as specific government services, which adversely impact, or in some cases, structurally discriminate against, men and boys. Common topics discussed within the men's rights movement include family law, such as child custody, alimony and marital property distribution; reproduction; suicide; domestic violence against men; false accusations of rape; circumcision; education; conscription; social safety nets; and health policies. The men's rights movement branched off from the men's liberation movement in the early 1970s, with both groups comprising a part of the larger men's movement.
Antifeminism, also spelled anti-feminism, is opposition to feminism. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, antifeminists opposed particular policy proposals for women's rights, such as the right to vote, educational opportunities, property rights, and access to birth control. In the mid and late 20th century, antifeminists often opposed the abortion-rights movement.
In gender studies, hegemonic masculinity is part of R. W. Connell's gender order theory, which recognizes multiple masculinities that vary across time, society, culture, and the individual. Hegemonic masculinity is defined as a practice that legitimizes men's dominant position in society and justifies the subordination of the common male population and women, and other marginalized ways of being a man. Conceptually, hegemonic masculinity proposes to explain how and why men maintain dominant social roles over women, and other gender identities, which are perceived as "feminine" in a given society.
A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy.
Masculism or masculinism may variously refer to ideologies and socio-political movements that seek to eliminate discrimination against men, or increase adherence to or promotion of attributes regarded as typical of males. The terms may also refer to the men's rights movement or men's movement, as well as a type of antifeminism.
Herbivore men is a term used in Japan to describe young men who become voluntarily celibate and express little interest in getting married or being assertive in pursuing relationships with women. The term was coined by the author Maki Fukasawa, who initially intended for it to describe a new form of masculinity that was not reliant on the proactivity and assertiveness typically associated with masculinity in Japan. Philosopher Masahiro Morioka defines herbivore men as "kind and gentle men who, without being bound by manliness, do not pursue romantic relationships voraciously and have no aptitude for being hurt or hurting others." According to Fukasawa, herbivore men are "not without romantic relationships, but have a non-assertive, indifferent attitude toward desires of flesh."
On the social news site Reddit, some communities are devoted to explicit, violent, propagandist, or hateful material. These subreddits have been the topic of controversy, at times receiving significant media coverage. Journalists, attorneys, media researchers, and others have commented that such communities shape and promote biased views of international politics, the veracity of medical evidence, misogynistic rhetoric, and other disruptive concepts.
The manosphere is a varied collection of websites, blogs, and online forums promoting masculinity, misogyny, and opposition to feminism. Communities within the manosphere include men's rights activists (MRAs), incels, Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW), pick-up artists (PUA), and fathers' rights groups. While the specifics of each group's beliefs sometimes conflict, they are generally united in the belief that society is biased against men due to the influence of feminism, and that feminists promote misandry, or hatred of men. Acceptance of these ideas is described as "taking the red pill", a metaphor borrowed from the film The Matrix.
The slang term Chad has historically been applied in different contexts. It originated in the UK, where it was used to describe a particular humorous ad-hoc cartoon. Later, it was employed in Chicago as a derogatory description for young, upper-class, urban males. In modern internet slang, the term generally refers to an "alpha" or simply a sexually successful male.
The concept of toxic masculinity is used in academic and media discussions to refer to those aspects of hegemonic masculinity that are socially destructive, such as misogyny, homophobia, and violent domination. These traits are considered "toxic" due in part to their promotion of violence, including sexual assault and domestic violence. Socialization of boys sometimes also normalizes violence, such as in the saying "boys will be boys" about bullying and aggression.
Femboy is a slang term that refers to males, usually cisgender, who express themselves with traditionally feminine behaviours, or—especially in the variant spelling femboi—to LGBTQ people of any gender identity who affect a "soft" masculine look. As an Internet aesthetic, this may be through the use of jewellery, wearing feminine clothing and makeup, or expressing feminine behavioural qualities. Femboy can be used as both a sexual and non-sexual term; it does not denote a specific sexual orientation or gender role.
Incel is a term associated with a subculture of people who define themselves as unable to find a romantic or sexual partner despite desiring one, and blame, objectify and denigrate women and girls as a result. The movement is strongly linked to misogyny. Originally coined as "invcel" around 1997 by a queer Canadian female student known as Alana, the spelling had shifted to "incel" by 1999, and the term later rose to prominence in the 2010s, following the influence of misogynistic terrorists Elliot Rodger and Alek Minassian.
Omegaverse, also known as A/B/O, is a subgenre of speculative erotic fiction, and originally a subgenre of erotic slash fan fiction. Its premise is that a dominance hierarchy exists in humans, which are divided into dominant "alphas", neutral "betas", and submissive "omegas". This hierarchy determines how people interact with one another in romantic, erotic and sexual contexts.
Soy boy is a pejorative term sometimes used in online communities to describe men perceived to be lacking masculine characteristics. The term bears many similarities and has been compared to the slang terms cuck, nu-male and low-T – terms sometimes used as insults for male femininity in the manosphere.
Men Going Their Own Way is an anti-feminist, misogynistic, mostly online community that espouses male separatism from what they see as a gynocentric society that has been corrupted by feminism. MGTOW specifically advocate for men to avoid marriage and committed romantic relationships with women. The community is a part of the manosphere, a collection of anti-feminist websites and online communities that also includes the men's rights movement, incels, and pickup artists.
Misogynist terrorism is terrorism that is motivated by the desire to punish women. It is an extreme form of misogyny—the policing of women's compliance to patriarchal gender expectations. Misogynist terrorism uses mass indiscriminate violence in an attempt to avenge nonconformity with those expectations or to reinforce the perceived superiority of men.
Simp is an internet slang term describing someone who shows excessive sympathy and attention toward another person, typically to someone who does not reciprocate the same feelings, in pursuit of affection or a sexual relationship. This behavior, known as simping, is carried out toward a variety of targets, including celebrities, politicians, e-girls, and e-boys. The term had sporadic usage until gaining traction on social media in 2019.