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You are not an alpha male; you're just being marketed to. Some jaded hipster dickhead in lensless eyeglasses that cost more than your house used the entire "alpha" movement to sell you energy drinks and those shirts that look like douchebag scrimshaw.

Human beings are not wolves. We're not even pack hunters anymore. Modern society has no place for an alpha, a beta, or anything resembling a carnivorous predatory social structure. "Alpha" is just a positive-sounding synonym for "asshole," and it is not an acceptable excuse for behaving like a cocksock, because the sad reality is, there is never an excuse for behaving like a cocksock. Wouldn't it be nice if there were? If there were some social theory, psychological disorder, or gypsy curse you could use to excuse your off-putting behavior? It sure would. But there never has been, and there never will be. It was all a giant lie sold to you by Big Energy to trick you into a mild stimulant addiction, an untruth you received free with every three-pack of TapouT shirts.

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I understand why it seems reasonable at first. What is an alpha male if not a beloved antihero, a Wolverine or Han Solo type? Did you agree with that statement? You shouldn't have. It was a trick. See, the alpha mentality slipped through our cultural defenses on the back of an actual truth: Confidence and, yes, even cockiness is attractive.

Here's the difference: An alpha male embraces the label because he secretly suspects that he might be a face full of dicks and he needs a way to spin that into a positive thing. A confident man would shun the very concept of labels because he knows that that's the shit insecure people use to feel accepted. The very second you open your mouth to self-identify as "alpha," you're admitting that you're too insecure to face life alone and on your own terms. You're giving everybody who speaks to you a disclaimer: "I'm going to be a dick to you, and here's why it's OK and you still have to like me." A truly confident man would never give enough of a shit to make that statement.