Download The Alpha Girl
Anika Taker
Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. The term began to refer to the first in a series or a group, both literally and metaphorically, since the 1300s. It was as early as the late 1870s when scientists began using the terms alpha male and alpha female to refer to the leaders of a group of animals. The term has been metaphorically applied to socially dominant men since the 1970s and similar women since at least the 1990s. In the 1990s, alpha female was mostly used with regard to women in sociological or scientific contexts. People writing about the way humans interact in communities would use alpha female as shorthand for the de facto leader in a female social hierarchy.
In the early 2000s, the phrase alpha female began to take on more cultural significance. As early as 2001, female trailblazers in their respective fields were called alpha females. In this sense, the term was a positive one, but at the same time, alpha females could also deride the catty, most popular girl in the middle-school lunchroom, say, or the bullish executive in the boardroom. The stereotypical image of an alpha female from this time puts her in a power-suit and sky-high heels, hair and makeup done, with perfect hair, confidence, and an executive-level job. During the early 2000s, it was this negative connotation of the alpha female as spiteful, intimidating, overbearing, and bossy that caught on and defined the stereotype.
Google searches for alpha female spiked in February, 2014 and April, 2015, coinciding with important moments in the career of German professional wrestler Marie Kristin Gabert, who took the stage name Alpha Female during those years.
On the other hand, many women increasingly and proudly identify as alpha females. They know what they want and are unafraid to advocate for themselves to achieve it. Alpha females are typically described as career-driven, physically attractive, and sexually empowered.
This is not meant to be a formal definition of alpha female like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of alpha female that will help our users expand their word mastery.
In Alpha Girls: Understanding the New American Girl and How She is Changing the World, psychologist Dan Kindlon (2006) claims that the new psychology of girls has produced a dramatically different kind of girl from her 1990s girl-in-crisis predecessor. He proposes that this new type of girl is a hybrid, personifying the best traits of masculinity and femininity. The Alpha Girl represents a new form of girlhood in which girls are seen as the economic, social, and cultural winners in the twenty first century because they are risk takers, competitive, and collaborative. How does cheerleading, one of the most female-identified and sexualized cultures of adolescent life, coexist with this seemingly new discourse of empowering girlhood? We argue that cheerleading provides a rich space for Girls Studies scholars to analyze how modes of femininity play out in the social practices that girls themselves deem important.
"Alpha female" is a phrase that gets used a lot in pop culture, but what does it really mean? Is there actual science behind the concept, or is it just a social construct? If you're looking for answers, you've come to the right place. In this article, we'll explain exactly what "alpha female" means, outline the personality traits that define this type of woman, and touch on how to embody these traits yourself.
I do not believe that identifying as an alpha female is a negative trait. However, I think the mentality of having to step on others to get to get ahead is the wrong approach to take. I am a feminist and I believe in raising one another up. I believe in being a strong mentor. I believe in making ethical decisions. I believe in treating one another well and I believe that I am in a leadership role, not only because I am intelligent, skilled and qualified but also because I treat others with respect.
According to de Waal [18], the term alpha female as it is applied to women, originated from the field of animal behavior, specifically nonhuman primate literature. In the nonhuman primate literature, the alpha female has been described as behaving both similarly and differently [18], [38] than her male counterpart. For example, alpha female apes have been described as rarely showing open rivalry for the top spot. Unlike alpha males who exhibit coercive behaviors [38], the nonhuman primate alpha female is described as choosing a more cooperative and communal approach to reaching and maintaining her alpha status [3]. According to Maslow (1940), the techniques and hypotheses that have come from the study of primates, specifically social dominance and dominance rank, including the alpha male or female, can be applied to similar scientific study in humans.
As data were collected through the survey, focus groups and interviews, self-identified alpha females were not observed in their natural environments limiting the insight into the potential variation in the expression of the identity. Humans have complex social lives and operate in varying contexts, belong to different social groups and hierarchies, and perform a variety of social roles [32]. Within this context, self-identifying as alpha female may not necessarily mean that she is all alpha, all of the time. For example, in two studies conducted with approximately 900 college students (men and women), Hawley and Hensley [37] found that when it comes to connecting on a sexual level with dominant or alpha males, women who identified as alpha, preferred forceful submission fantasies more than women who identified as subordinate [37]. Similarly, others have found that although alpha females like to stay in control in the bedroom, they are willing to relinquish this control to men when it suits them [15, 98]. Thus, the alpha female does not always choose to be alpha in every context. Further, people tend to value those hierarchies in which they are ranked the highest. For example, a person who works in the mailroom of their company and is the top baseball player on the company team, may derive more self-esteem from the latter hierarchy [32]. Additionally, depending upon the context, people also tend to alter the psychological meaning of a rank [32]. For example, a novice runner who completes a marathon would be more pleased with themselves than a person who was expecting to win but placed 5th [32]. Future ethnographic research focused on the daily lived experiences and the various contexts of the alpha female may provide greater insight into the potential fluidity and variation in the expression of the alpha female identity.
The present study is also limited by non-random sampling, and therefore may include some bias, the nature of which is unknown. It is also potentially limited by small sample sizes for both the non-alpha and alpha sampling groups. It is therefore possible the results do not accurately reflect the differences between these groups of women in North America. The non-random small sample also limits the potential to generalize to a larger population beyond the scope of the present study.
Use of the BSRI also poses a limitation. In some cases, the BSRI has been shown not to be a valid measurement of psychological androgyny due to localized constructions of masculinity and femininity [149]. Thus, the BSRI may not accurately reflect gender expression in other cultures and societies for example, matrilineal societies such as the Minangkabau of Indonesia [150] and the Mosuo of China [151]. Examining the alpha female construct in such societies may require a modification of the current BSRI to accommodate for such cross-cultural differences.
Contrary to popular narratives, for the study population, the alpha female does not necessarily have sex more frequently than other women though she is more experienced and enjoys sex more. She does not necessarily make more money or is more educated than other women, and she does not necessarily hold a senior position in her workplace. She reports being strong and extroverted and being aggressive, ambitious, assertive, competitive, and independent however, not at the expense of being affectionate, gentle, loyal, sensitive to the needs of others, and understanding.
I would like to thank Dr. Michael Schillaci, Dr. Maggie Cummings, and Dr. Sandra Bamford of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Toronto Scarborough for their support, advice, and critical input in the examination of the alpha woman construct.
In the meantime, our alpha male has been slaying his own dragons throughout the week and is yearning for our sweet softness and understanding to help HIM shift into relationship mode. That works most of the time, but some days I am just out of empathy and compassion and softness. I need my man to do a hard reset because I have nothing to give. I need support.
In your own dictionary i guess
Guess u are not one, alpha females make impact in the woman world and they struggle too in their personal life especially in relationships with the opposite sex, unless she is lucky to find a man that supports her
Alpha-gal syndrome (AGS) is a serious, potentially life-threatening allergic condition. AGS is also called alpha-gal allergy, red meat allergy, or tick bite meat allergy. AGS is not caused by an infection. AGS symptoms occur after people eat red meat or are exposed to other products containing alpha-gal.
Black & Bookish is the brainchild of Antoinette Scully, educator and lover of all things bookish. She is on a quest to fill your bookshelves with beloved authors of the African Diaspora. When she's not hanging out online, she's living it up as the mother of two rambunctious girls and wife of a local filmmaker.
Jamie and I did try to remain clinical and unemotional but it was difficult to watch. Plus, we could not help but play favorites. We really hoped that, in the end, sweet Wyakin would come forward to take the alpha position, but sadly, sweetness does not an alpha female make. Wyakin, as spirited as she was, was not up to the challenge. Chemukh was unrelenting in her offensive and, when she came into heat a few days before Wyakin, that really sealed their fates.
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