Being a new person to this site, I am beginning to read through the articles and I find myself compelled to add a few comments to this post. The premise in itself is sound, but I believe the reason why you find very few alpha males left is not because of a genetic issue but because of society's attempt to depress and destroy masculinity in a whole.
Over the last couple of decades there has been an onslaught of media pushing that men as a whole are flawed. That men are not in touch with our feelings, that we don’t know how to please woman, and if you pay attention to the commercials today every man needs some kind of help in the sexual department.
I have read where many say there is no such thing as an alpha male, in humans that it is just a primate characteristic, but I must disagree. Men even in their finite wisdom were not much higher than primates during early times, yes we have opposable thumbs but there was still the instinct in women to look for the strongest male to survive.(the alpha male). Now we have evolved over time and our intellectual power has grown, but our natural instincts are still a part of us. That is why we find a mate and have sex. Not just because it feels good, or we enjoy it. I enjoy an ice cream sandwich every once in awhile but my body doesn’t react when I don’t have one for two months. We still hold to those same natural instincts that our ancestors had. We have evolved and with that our instincts have been suppressed in many ways.
Our mothers tried to make us sensitive, caring, and emotionally dependant. And if our fathers stepped in and tried to teach us to be men, they were chastised and told they were raising male chauvinists.
Over the years few males have escaped this. I do not believe alpha males are born, I believe they are raised. Raised by fathers and mothers who still hold true to the ideals that a man should be a man and not a scapegoat for all of society's moral dilemmas.
Mothers and fathers who taught their sons to be strong, independent, and able to face the fears of the unknown and to feel comfortable in who and what they are. Mothers and fathers who showed their sons that they could be confident and strong, while still being sensitive to others. Mothers and fathers who taught their sons how to carry themselves through storms, and crises while keeping there head high and there temper in check.
Yes alpha males are a dieing breed. Dying out because society says it should, dieing out because to few stand up and say it’s a good thing. Because to many have blamed the alpha male for the repression of women.
It is good to see so many here talking about it. But talk is cheap, people. You need to start with your own sons and raise them to be that which has been the taboo in society for so long.
And I'm glad to see this subject raised here. I think there is definitely such a thing as an Alpha Male, and I don't think it's about sexual attraction. Recently, I worked late at school, and one of the administrators was there with some business associates. They were meeting to discuss some school matters, and every time I walked past them, I had an overwhelming feeling of submission. And I guarantee that I am not sexually attracted to any of them. They are old, they are wrinkled, and they do nothing for me except exude that Alpha stuff!
I agree completely. I had a supervisor at a job I had when I was younger that could make me blush just by walking by. He exuded maculine energy.
But it was his actions, not merely his presence that made me feel this way. He was the kind of man who would see us out to our cars at night, and in the winter when we walked out to our cars we would find them by some miracle to be free of snow and ice. He was protective of his employees and you felt a comfort just knowing he was on duty. I was rather young at the time (16 or so), and he was a bit older (I don't think more than 7-10 years). I was embarassed and confused by my attraction and reaction to him (which only served to make it worse by the way), but it was definitely there. As I begin to understand more about myself I am starting to get more comfortable around strong males but I think even today if I were to run into him I would probably react as my 16 year old self. Though I would like to think it wouldn't be as outwardly obvious
People who are incredibly charismatic have personal power. That is, their life is so together that they are able to do whatever they want. I must say that charm is different from charisma. A guy/girl may be charming and that to me refers to the fact that they could be charismatic if they had their life together.
What I mean by personal power is that the choices we make. I think that charisma is something that anyone can develop.
Having grown up without much in the way of positive male role models, and now dealing with my own beta nature (with infrequent episodes of behaving as one of these alphas everyone is talking about), I've found that a good deal of my problems with other people come from my own weakness. I have had relationships with some very strong women and I've been unable to provide them with the strength or reliability they crave.
Using letters to describe people is no different from using words like "dominant" "funny" or "pretentious"; they're all just symbols. Except using letters might be more accurate because the letter is openly ambiguous whereas a word tends to over-specify and not encourage one to look further into its meaning. I think, Louise, that you should get over your fear of using letters lest it prevent you from learning anything here. There are different roles that people can take, certain stable niches that we can fall into that society (that is, we) creates for us.
Alpha, beta, delta, I don't know exactly what they mean, but I know that our behavior in terms of possessing personal power and the way we use it, can greatly determine our happiness. It is in our best interests to understand that, not to believe that somehow by using greek letters we are locking people into developmental traps. Understand these terms, study what they mean, and if you can do anything to help your sons be happy, do it, even if it includes teaching them to harness the power to be Alpha. This isn't Brave New World, no one is dousing fetuses with alcohol to stunt their growth.
