What's with the alpha/masculinity obsession?

[EnergizedLib]

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Honestly, I’m a straight, white male, and I don’t obsess or feel the need to prove to be alpha or be masculine or manly. I always tell people this that I’m not a manly man and I’m not a girly man, I’m just me. I know I’m comfortable in who I am that I don’t need to brag to show off any masculinity or have the need to try hard to be a manly man. I am who I am, and people will make of me what they will.

It’s rather frightening the insecurities (as it comes across) that many on the right have in terms of masculinity/manliness and the perception of it.

Apologizing (albeit not over every little thing) isn’t a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength. An ideal man, to me, isn’t one who acts gruff and talks tough, but rather has empathy, compassion and shows kindness without weakness. Those are the true leaders and mangers.

I don’t see the point to this culture wars stuff. I really don’t.

[NJCher]

1. I guess no one told him yet

alpha male = jerk

[TheBlackAdder]

33. Adam Ruins Everything did bit on the Alpha Male and how the original study researcher retracted it.

.

While it was retracted as seriously flawed, it was too late as the "Alpha Male" took hold.

Alpha Males are typically MRA INCEL types and need some validity for their behavior.

.

[Blue Owl]

2. Alpha Douchebags more like

[Initech]

52. I think the word "poser" is the word he's looking for.

The “alpha males” he’s referring to are the kind of guys who go to Hooters and strip clubs to show off their prowess, but the girls secretly laugh at them behind their backs because of what posers they are when they’re not looking.

[emulatorloo]

3. If a guy has to obsessively label himself ALPHA like this guy does, he is insecure.

Compare this person to men with strong characters, integrity, compassion and empathy, like Joe Biden for example.

[Dorian Gray]

29. Right

If you have to tell everyone how alpha you are, you ain't alpha.

[unblock]

4. Someone once noted that if you believe there are alpha males, who are more masculine

and beta males, who are less masculine...


...that means you believe that gender is a spectrum, not a binary.

Not that they'd ever admit that...

[Bernardo de La Paz]

21. Yes, but very good talking point and good one to use if you want to upset them. :) . . . nt

[regnaD kciN]

5. The notion of a "Christian Alpha Male" is especially weird...

...because Christians are supposed to model Jesus, who was the very antithesis of an "alpha male."

[BlueGreenLady]

18. Just what I was thinking

👍👍👍👍👍

[Gaugamela]

6. What's this jackass compensating for? What's he repressing? Hmm. . .

Apparently, hanging out at Hooters is this peacock’s attempt at mating display.

[UpInArms]

26. Peacocks are lovely creatures

This freak of nature is a hideous incarnation of something that walks on two legs.

My peacock loves his babies, nurtures them, keeps them warm, worries over them and loves his mate. Just saying.

[Victor_c3]

7. I couldn't agree more

As a guy who has led men in combat (that’s considered a traditionally manly thing to do), I can guarantee to you that showing restraint and compassion takes a lot more strength than acting violently at the drop of a hat.

I don’t wear work boots, drive a big truck, eat copious amounts of meat, or treat women like dirt, but I’m absolutely secure in the sort of man that I am. I’m a very involved and doting father to my two teenaged daughters. Nothing says a person is a man than selflessly serving your own family.

If I didn’t see it as dangerous to our society, this hyper masculinity bullshit would be hilarious.

[EnergizedLib]

10. Thanks for serving, I appreciate you

Look at the things General Schwarzkopf said about crying.

[Ocelot II]

8. It's kind of pathetic, really.

If you have to keep telling people you're something, you're not that. Specifically, if you have to keep going on about being an "alpha male," thumping your chest and being all stereotypically manly (usually with a healthy dose of misogyny), you're actually telling the world that you're really insecure and you think your dick is too small.

[wnylib]

37. It's classic fascism. Macho tough guy, alpha male superiority.

White superiority. Misogyny. They all go together in the fascist ego identity.

[msongs]

9. al bundy meets ted bundy on the crap hole known as twitter

[Emrys]

11. It's overcompensation based on pseudoscientific theories

equating human interactions with those of wild animals.

I've never found Urban Dictionary particularly useful, but it came up trumps:

Alpha Male

The early version of a male before testing & bug fixes. Unstable and not suitable for the public

That guy is a total Alpha Male, better not invite him over.

Alpha Male

In the animal kingdom alpha males are a real thing and usually live an extremely violent existence while they constantly defend their territory and the females of their species that they breed with. In human beings an alpha male is more of a personality type that usually describes somebody who is arrogant, obnoxious, insensitive, selfish, competitive while also being insecure and often resort to physical violence. Alpha male is a term that people use to protect their egos and in order to explain and validate their treatment of other people.

"Why does that guy walk around disrespecting everybody with his chest all puffed up as if he's God's gift to the world?"

"Because he has a little dick, is insecure and is overcompensating. He thinks he's an alpha male"

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Alpha%20Male

A fun article from Berkeley with some survey data about the reality in human terms:

The Myth of the Alpha Male

https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/the_myth_of_the_alpha_male

[Victor_c3]

54. Interesting article you have linked there

It puts to words much of what I have noticed about “real” leadership.

You need to be assertive, but just as importantly you need to show compassion and kindness. I’ve always taken the time to listen to my subordinates and to treat them with respect and dignity. In turn, I’ve never had a problem getting people to do what is required of them in difficult situations. That’s true whether I was leading men on a dismounted infantry patrol in Iraq or leading a crew of civilians in a warehouse.

[Emrys]

55. Yes, it chimed with my own experiences, too. n/t

[JI7]

12. So fucking Cringe

[BigmanPigman]

13. Over compensating for the lack of something?

That is usually how it works out. What is amusing is that most people automatically know this psychology and it doesn't work as well as they think it does or hope it will.

[NanceGreggs]

14. For the past five+ years ...

... GOP males have consistently demonstrated that there are no depths they will not go to in order to kiss Trump's ass.

They have done so openly and publicly. They've humiliated themselves over and over by cowering in fear of the Big Orange Behind.

Is it any wonder they now have an image problem when it comes to being seen as 'men' - rather than as spineless, submissive toadies?

Of course, to hear them tell it, this is all the fault of them pushy liberal wimmins who are emasculating Republican menfolk by being stronger , more competent, and far more principled than they are.





Then again - maybe this all about Trump running again, and the whole 'mushroom-sized dick' issue being revisited.

[Mad_Machine76]

34. It's so weird too

that they consider Trump to be a symbol of masculinity. That's what I REALLY don't get.

[LudwigPastorius]

60. As long as it's a bigoted Republican man wearing the corset, dyed hair, and makeup,...

they're fine with it.

[GoneOffShore]

15. Sounds like little Nicky is well on his way to becoming 'This Week's Main Character' on Tweeter

And no one should aspire to be 'This Week's Main Character', because people just point and laugh.

[flvegan]

16. Fake it until you make it. Thumb w/hair Adams is no more alpha

than T**** is a billionaire. It's a grift, and pencilneck Nick is all in on this.

[anarch]

17. I just assumed that was a parody account; might actually be even funnier if not

it's so ridiculous though I assumed it was satire; I dunno, I thought the same thing about Turning Point USA or whatever for a long time

[Aviation Pro]

19. Wolves have alpha males

And they are doting and attentive fathers that even teach their pups to swim. Assholes, like this turd, are betas that hide behind their women when confronted.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

22. Latest research seems to show there are no alpha wolves, I read on DU a few days ago. . . nt

[BlackSkimmer]

49. "Their" women?

Oh god give me strength.

[Joinfortmill]

20. Just more of 'back to the good ole days'

[Bernardo de La Paz]

23. Anyone self-identifying as "alpha male" is displaying how limited their imagination is. . . . nt

[Dorian Gray]

28. also

if you have to tell the world you're "alpha," you are most definitely NOT "alpha." It's a catch-22.

[jcgoldie]

58. ... and tremendous insecurity

Reminds me of Trump constantly repeating how innocent he is. If you feel the need to constantly tell everyone how smart, tough, good, etc you are… it usually means you do not believe it yourself.

[leftyladyfrommo]

24. I gotta say that I think strong family guys are the

sexiest men .

[Sky Jewels]

46. And also males who love kitty cats.

They're smarter, funnier, kinder, and more secure than other men, in my experience. They don't have the control issues that the cat haters usually have. I married a family/cat guy. He's been a wonderful father to two humans and nine kitties (over three decades).

[leftyladyfrommo]

50. Males who are kind to all living things.

I don't put up with mean people. Ever.

[Celerity]

25. hyper cringe

so so sus

[Sympthsical]

31. My first thought

Seeing anyone use "alpha male" unironically is one of the cringiest things imaginable.

I read that series of tweets and felt so much cringe, I wanted to stand up and physically move away from the computer out of discomfort.

Like, how do these men not know what they look like to everyone else by talking that way? Or they do know and are just doing it for validation in their little subgroups. Probably that.

I feel like I've seen handy porn start with some of these exchanges.

[Dorian Gray]

27. hmmmmmm

only beta cucks worry about whether someone is alpha or not.

(In other words, Nick Adams is stupid and trying too hard to prove his manhood, and that makes him look weak.)

[LakeArenal]

30. Alpholes!

[Taylor Picker]

32. Why is is profile pic a photo of a bloated Wayne Newton?

[highplainsdem]

35. Nick Adams is a Trump sycophant who has now obviously decided it would be helpful

to his status as a Big Name Asskisser in the RW alternate universe to suck up to Musk and everyone the RW sees as powerful, including the grotesque alpha-male-parody Andrew Tate, who was allowed back on Twitter by Musk, as I posted earlier:

https://democraticunderground.com/100217392752

The idiocy there in a reply to Adams

If Nick Adams has a million fans, I’m one of them

If Nick Adams has a hundred fans, I’m one of them

If Nick Adams has ten fans, I’m one of them

If Nick Adams has one fan, then i’m him

If Nick Adams has no fans, then i am no longer alive

is adapted from a reply Tate has his many Twitter followers posting about him. Just change Adams' name to Tate's.


As for whether any of these nitwits are alpha in the sense of being strong or leaders - no. They're fools who think that boasting makes them strong, or that slavishly following someone who's boasting somehow also makes them strong.

They're all pathetic.

[GoCubsGo]

36. It's a hallmark of fascism.

Hitler and Mussolini both considered the manly man the model for masculinity. They wanted to revert society back to a time where "men were men" (whatever the fuck that really means) and women were weak, barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen. This is no different. Assholes like Nick Adams want the same thing. Except that they're weak, fucking cowards, who can only ride on the coattails of the guys they think are "alpha" males.

[wnylib]

40. I posted the same thing up thread

before I saw your post.

For me it conjures up images of Gestapo strutting in their uniforms and demonstrating their "manliness" by beating and torturing people.

[ismnotwasm]

38. It's bullshit.

Men in general are experiencing cultural shifts almost everywhere. The “head of household” crap no longer applies on most cases. Women no longer need men for, well, anything. Some men aren’t taking that well, because they have to develop decency and personalities. So strange phenomenon like incels, made-up “alphas”, all whine constantly on podcasts, and other places on the internet. They would be simply annoying if they weren’t dangerous.

[yardwork]

39. It's on DU, too.

We can always tell when the incel sub-culture gets riled up about something because echoes of it appear on DU. Today we're worried about girly colors like pink and blue destroying the manliness of pro sports.

I'm guessing that their response to losing the midterms is to dig deeper on the hyper-masculinity stereotypes. What's Tucker saying? Still hawking gonad radiators?

[NameAlreadyTaken]

41. "Alpha" isn't manly. It's childly.

[cagefreesoylentgreen]

42. Alpha/Beta/Omega dynamics

The term shows up fan works too, where it has nothing to do with how incels define it. They should chill and read some Omegaverse fanfiction. Maybe that’ll fix ‘em!

[Buns_of_Fire]

63. Not "Alpha". Not "Beta". Definitely a "Mu".

That's what Devin's cow told me, anyway.
https://www.rapidtables.com/math/symbols/greek_alphabet.html

[Prairie_Seagull]

43. A big red light goes off in my head every time I say "generally" but,

Generally speaking men are bigger and stronger than women. If domination through fear is really what is behind all this Alpha talk then some have completely missed the point. Biologically spreading ones characteristics as far as possible is the point. Right? If so then being nice friendly and funny is more likely to do the job than being knuckle dragging jerk.

Please forgive the "generally"

[scipan]

48. I agree. It seems to me that they are trying to impress other

males more than females. With exceptions of course.

[GenThePerservering]

64. Agree that they're posturing for other males

- it's almost homoerotic.

[iemanja]

44. Because he's a beta who wishes he were an alpha

[moondust]

45. Savages.

Last edited Mon Nov 28, 2022, 04:49 PM - Edit history (1)

[dsp3000]

47. Who is this guy and why should we care?

[Hassin Bin Sober]

53. The guy is a clickbait troll. Too many people fall for it.

[Initech]

51. What's his obsession with Hooters? The food there is terrible.

Give me Nashville style hot chicken over buffalo wings any day of the week! If he goes there to play grab ass with the waitresses, then that just makes him a creepy weirdo.

[area51]

56. I'm wondering if he owns stock in Hooters,

as to why he's always hyping it.

[Initech]

57. That's probably it.

I can't think of a single reason to eat there otherwise. I ate there once, got food poisoning, never went back. And as a guy, I like to drink beer and watch football as much as the next guy, but there's about a million places I'd go before even thinking about Hooters. I had no idea my choosing not to eat there made me less of a man.

[EnergizedLib]

59. I haven't been there in years

I can’t even remember what their food tastes like. I’m not saying it’s a good or bad thing, really can’t recall.

[Initech]

61. Eh... if you've had buffalo wings and french fries, you've had them all.

Honestly buffalo wings aren't that exciting for me anymore. Hot chicken on the other hand... *drooling*

I think the only thing that makes Hooters appealing to the "alpha male" is the chance to hit on the scantily clad waitresses. But then I think I saw a tweet going around last week that waitresses laugh at guys like Nick Adams.

[TheBeam19]

62. Probably to get attention and exposure.

….