The Alpha Male

General David Petraeus

You hear often these days of “alpha males.” Most recently, I heard the term used to describe David Petraeus, as an explanation for his affair.

What is most striking about this term is that you only hear about “alpha males,” never “alpha females.” This is odd, because the term derives from biology, as a descriptor for relationships among animals in groups, and in the animal kingdom there are both alpha males and alpha females.

The problem with the term is, first, it reduces human beings to the level of animals. It is therefore dehumanizing, offensive to human dignity. But the fact that it is applied only to men makes it also discriminatory. Exactly as discriminatory, in fact, as if you referred to black men as “monkeys” or “apes”; because it is doing exactly the same thing to men in general.

Of course, the necessary implication is that men must be “controlled” by women, to ensure they do not do anything dangerous. Just so was slavery justified in its day.

But it is also offensive because it denies basic morality. In suggesting that men are ruled by instinct, it suggests that they are incapable of moral choice—and therefore cannot be held responsible for their actions. If an “alpha male” is moved to kill a rival for dominance, who can say he did something objectively wrong?

No responsible person should use the term “alpha male” in reference to human beings. It is far more offensive than “nigger” or "kike" or “spic” or “gook.”