Alpha Male

We're heading into the full swing of electoral season here in the states and one term you'll hear thrown around is "alpha male." It's a term that's used rather carelessly as it implies that there is some universal meaning to be gleaned from simply saying it.

So the question(s) I put to you is what is an alpha male?

Is something that's tied into leadership abilities, wealth creation, the ability to attract women with charm and handsome features?

Is there a female equivalent, the alpha female? Angela Merkel? Beyonce? Meg Whitman?

Discuss.

 

Alpha male is that dude who has a lot of power. The usual candidates. president, ceo, billionaires. Women just come along for the power.

Yes there is an alpha female but that is based on looks. No examples come to mind simply because I care more about power than alpha females.

 

You say that alpha women are defined solely by their looks, yet cannot conjure a single example of a woman who dominates with her beauty? This tells me that your definition is underdeveloped or you're just writing without thinking.

It is more likely the case that an "alpha female" relies on more than a pretty face, no?

 

No, it means I am not thinking of an attractive woman at this time. It also means I don't really care about the alpha female.

However, I suppose marilyn monroe. I simply don't care about alpha female because that's not my road to walk down.

I agree. You do need some sense of how to manipulate events and people but meg whitham who didn't really win her election and was mascaraed in that dirty election is not an alpha female. I'd put hillary clinton in before her. I guess brains and beauty. But beauty does seem to trump brains with women.

 

No she didn't win the election, but she also went up against a lifelong politician who already knew how to win the office, not to mention the natural advantage Democratic candidates have in California.

To be fair, I wouldn't expect Jerry Brown to do as masterful a job of turning EBay into the online giant it has become either.

???

 

She had more money than this guy. Her problem was not him. She had everything in the bag. It was Arnold. Which is just odd to say a natural advantage Democratic candidate when a republican was elected.

California gave us the model of a republican called Ronald Reagan and has elected more republicans than democrats. so yea it is fair to say she is not alpha. She ran in an era where career politicians were being booted and still lost.

Also, We don't know what Meg Whitham did while at ebay. There were several people involved in that company. You can't expect for a business person to know techs too well that doesn't have a backgound in it. It is what placed Bill gates, the google inventors and and face book inventor into the places they are today.

 

Alpha leader describe the most experienced, most active and normally oldest animal of a herd.
I use this terminology only, if I see one or several negative attitudes in a powerful person. Power-hungry,narcistic, greedy,ruthless,merciless soziopaths as you find them in some governments,in Mafia /or similiar groups or in economy.
Alpha females without an alpha male (mostly the father or an older powerful mentor) behind them are rare, mostly it already ends by the fight to be one...

These kind of men attract more or less young women, because it "promises" a secure life, in the first moment.

 

generally speaking it is the animal in its prime and not the oldest. You will never be as good as you are in your prime. sad but true for everyone.

 

correct- it's the strongest and one of the oldest one and not the oldest one..:smt023

 

The natural advantage I was referring to is the fact that 44% of California voters are registered as Democrats, whereas only 30% are registered as Republicans. Democrats also won every statewide seat in the election, including a matchup between two females, Barbara Boxer and Carly Fiorina. There was also a statewide race for Attorney General that involved the district attorneys of Los Angeles (Steve Cooley) and San Francisco (Kamala Harris). That race was won by Harris who took Los Angeles County even though city voters elected Cooley to his position. Who would be considered the alpha person between Harris and Cooley?

Well maybe you don't know but I certainly do. She took a $4 million company and turned it into an $8 billion one less than a decade later. Explain to me how she is not an elite leader for accomplishing such a feat?

 

This advantage does not explain arnold. Does it?
It doesn't explain how arnold became governor. The issue is the masterpiece of placing that illegal woman on the spotlight to ruin Whitham and arnold that contributed to what should have been a win. Lord knows brown looked like nixon in the jfk vs nixon debate.

You weren't there at the board meetings or what ever meetings they had. All you know is second hand information. Honestly, that is the truth. You can't take the word of someone trying to get a position. They'll say anything to get where they want to be.

worse yet, to say that she took a 4 million company and turned it into a 8 billion company gives all the credit to her and no credit to anyone who was there and contributed.

 

There can't be an alpha male without a herd, I guess. In that sense, the qualities that is valued and respected amongst the herds determines who becomes an alpha male. In the same sense, the herd willing acquiesce that their possible entitlements be overridden on the choice(s) of the alpha male.

I guess what now seems obvious is the power wielded by the alpha male because of the qualities he possesses and the values the herd subscribe to makes the alpha male influential in determining outcomes. In politics, an alpha male can emerge through the force of communicative power of speech, eloquence , or a powerful rhetoric that identifies with the needs of a season.

In other areas, asides from politics, it could this alpha tribes are selected in popular culture, or in business. Beyonce fits the bill, irrespective she is not a male. Her herd, her followers, and the influence she has had on popular culture with terms such as bootylicious, and the copy artists, like Kim Kardashian that have benefited from her ability to redefine qualities that popular culture find appealing shows her influence on this community.

In business, we see a familiar influence in popular culture from the late Steve Jobs. He has influenced how we make consumption decisions. From the Iphones to Ipad, to the copy artists that make android phones and tablets.

In conclusion, if we look at the two illustrations, experience and age may help season the individuals that emerge as alpha males, or females., even when they are past there prime. This is because the social capital garnered during their prime might have created enormous wealth that allows them exist in another social space.

Take for example, Elizabeth Taylor, and Bill Clinton. They both exist in different social spaces, influentially and with enormous power, money and respect. Clinton bestrides the global community like colossus, and same applies with Elizabeth Taylor on the tabloids, even after many failed marriages.

I better stop here.

 

OK now I see your angle. You think by being deliberately obtuse you're making your position stronger.

If you think women are incapable of exemplifying the same characteristics of shrewd leadership as men who are designated as "alphas", just say so.

 

A particularly salient point, but it seems there are certain traits that meet a universal standard for defining alpha characteristics. You mentioned eloquence and the power of rhetoric in political ascendancy, how about height, education, or even depth of voice? What else fits the bill for men and women?

 

I am always cautious about the certainty of universal standards. For example the physical characteristics that are valued and selected change across races and cultures. In this case, the height that would seem favourable amongst the Chinese, or Japanese might not be so favourable with the Americans.

For education, maybe. But I would prefer to call it knowledge instead. The reason is because we have seen well educated people that lack the ability to influence people, or exercise social or political power even when they are educated.

Still, I would acknowledge that across cultures we do favour certain traits over others . And this bestows certain status on the owners or the progenitors. Maybe others that contribute as the thread develops would be able to come up with traits that fit the bill universally.

 

I don't think that hence why I haven't said it. lol
That is as clear as I can make it.
I've also made it clear that I think alpha males and alpha females are judged on different items.

to select a woman that lost the race as alpha is questionable? That's why I said no to her. Again, we weren't there at ebay. We don't know what went on. All we have is hear say.




I also am not obtuse. I gave plenty of accurate examples. Arnold in as governor. Before you explained your advantage further, I mentioned that the state of california had more republicans governors than democrats. I then state that you have no direct information on what whitham did in those board meanings. You simply have second hand information. This was not obtuse but direct. You are doing a "discredit the person" because many of these things are indeed true.