Editor's note: This story includes mention of suicide. If you are struggling with suicide or your mental health, you are not alone. Resources are available here. All opinions, columns and letters reflect the views of the individual writer and not necessarily those of the IDS or its staffers.
If you’ve been on social media in the last few years, you’ve probably heard of or encountered someone who dubs themselves as an “alpha male”— a man who believes they embody what it means to be a man by presenting as tough, strong and masculine. Many men might take the title because it makes them seem higher status or potentially better than others. The problem is that it’s not only false but also extremely harmful.
The term “alpha male” comes from a 1970 study by biologist David Mech, in which he observed a wolf pack in captivity and found an alpha (the leader) and beta (the caregiver). The book became a bestseller and remained in print until 2022. However, there was one small snag in his findings.
He was completely wrong.
Years later, Mech found the pack structure was simply a family. He observed wild wolf packs in Canada and found that leadership simply came from cooperation. Mech has worked to correct his mistakes, but the media zeitgeist has restructured what it means to be “alpha.”.
There are reasons why men, especially young men, fall into the “alpha male” trap, from feeling lonely and lacking community to simply feeling lost and wanting answers on self-improvement. The issues these men face deserve attention, but the online spheres they end up in don’t help them improve. Despite science disproving this mindset, they continue to use it.
The alpha male movement, or “manosphere,” has evolved over the last few years with the help o online figures promoting a regressive and strict form of masculinity. Podcasters including Andrew Tate, Brian Atlas of “Whatever” and Myron Gaines and Walter Weekes of “Fresh and Fit” preach certain worldviews where empathy leads to weakness, dominance ensures value, and women are adversaries under the mask of “self-improvement.” These figures could seem “refreshing” or “honest” as they don’t sugarcoat their feelings towards others or themselves. They’re confident in who they are, which is what they try to market.
These podcasts use buzzwords such as “beta” or “simp” to describe men whom they perceive as inferior, things from not being able to bench a certain amount to having basic respect for women. They preach that men should practice isolation, not show emotion and trust no one, which is marketed as different than traditional loneliness. They degrade women who are what they call “low value” meaning they may be sexually active, work in certain fields, or not follow traditional gender roles.
These podcasts and the “alpha” movement have manipulated and targeted young men into following their mindset.
They target teenagers and young men who might feel lost and coerce them into their echo chamber, one where they feel welcome and not at fault for being rejected or perceived a certain way. It tells these young men they are owed attention and status from women and other men through domination and aggression, not through merit and kindness. I’ve even noticed some men here at Indiana University who seem to share the same beliefs. They might not call themselves alpha, but the mindset they carry is reflective of what the manosphere preaches.
One of the main faces of the manosphere is Andrew Tate, a former kickboxer and self-described misogynist. He’s a major face in the alpha male community who has garnered controversy from his extremely derogatory and hurtful views on women, consent and more. Separately from his platform, he and his brother were indicted and arrested for human trafficking in 2022. His views became concerning for many parents and teachers after kids began regurgitating his talking points. Despite being banned from social media platforms in 2022, his influence continued through TikTok fan clips and into the minds of young men.
Rather than aiming to fix issues within our own community, such as promoting therapy, proper communication and empathy the manosphere chooses to demonize women, emotion and society instead of looking within. It claims men have a “male loneliness epidemic,” which is statistically somewhat true, but it calls the tools that could be used to fix it “weak” and “feminine.”
The alpha male movement is not helping us become better; it’s making us worse. It’s reinforcing a radical version of masculinity and a fear that anything against it is seen as feminine and condemned by other men. It sells a belief that we are owed success because we’re masculine, we have money or we’re assertive. The issue is that it’s not true.
Masculinity and femininity don’t even have proper definitions. It was societally created based on what men and women were perceived to be. The alpha male movement pushes those stereotypes to the extreme, to their own detriment.
The movement won’t save men. It won’t build healthy relationships. It’ll make men more isolated, separate them from people who can help them out, and make them more hateful due to a false sense of self-improvement.
On average, men do struggle more with undiagnosed mental health issues, loneliness and suicidal thoughts. But finding a space that stigmatizes mental health awareness and deflects the blame onto the opposite sex instead of addressing the proper reasons only brings more harm.
As a man, we need to provide better resources, better conversations about men’s mental health and root our masculinity in empathy, care and humility instead of success, status and suppression. We can do this by giving men the space to talk about their mental health without criticism.
The media and IU itself could address these issues, too, by highlighting the dangers of the movement and showing why it’s bad instead of simply talking about it. The answer to stopping male loneliness isn’t by becoming an “alpha;” it’s by learning how to love yourself and find people and things that will get you there.
Resources are available through IU to support men’s mental health, including TimelyCare and the IU Counseling and Psychological Services Center.
A list of resources is available here if you or someone you know is struggling with suicide or mental health.
Jacob Fry (he/him) is a junior studying political science.
