Alpha Female: The Bitch

If you never get lost in traffic or look good in a miniskirt – or both – chances are you may be called an alpha female. This one is as strong and faithful to the attributes of gender as an alpha male is. Sexuality is the overriding principle and factor for success with both the alpha female and the alpha male.

Think Margaret Thatcher – durable, resilient, iron-clad, iron-willed, and vain with appearance. Hers was also the only cabinet with no other woman in it. The alpha female is the devil who wears Prada. In charge, aloof, and ahead just like Anna Wintour, the editor of US Vogue.

The alpha female looks comfortable in the boardroom, and comes power-dressed. She may wear a tie but with such élan as matching it with fire red lipstick. She is also, most likely, not married nor about to have children. Neither does she obsess about relationships. Her focus on ambition is second to none.

Now, if you’re a homemaker and nurturer of family, you can hardly be considered an alpha female. This is because the alpha female syndrome is based on a male model – or, more appropriately, the masculine model (this is the uncanny quality of being a provider instead of nurturer).

The tie-with-killer-lipstick package is really a rebellion against male domination – giving credence to the movement of female domination. The alpha syndrome in both genders depends entirely on the concept of innate superiority.

Which is really what a huge part of the feminist movement has turned out to be. Feminism is inescapably beholden to the concept of male domination because it is the revolt against the supremacy of the male.

In the same light, alpha females behave aggressively towards their climb to the top. In the process, and because the world is essentially patriarchal, the alpha females are really mavericks or gender hybrids.

In spite of much ado about the uber-feminist, not many women really like to be an alpha female. In the first place, not many women like alpha females. Women want to be liked.

Which brings on the most important connotation of the alpha female. This one is the bitch – all at once frightening and domineering.

The alpha female is yet another by-product that trickled out of the feminine stereotype. She is both an icon and a caricature. She is seen as inhuman rather than superhuman. While she may be envied for her talent and capability (not to mention, overflowing sexuality), she suffers from reduced empathy from others because empathy naturally subtracts from her intractable superiority. Total achievement is the focus of the alpha female.

She also despises alpha males who are, in turn, terrified of her. Male-bashing is the alpha female’s favorite pastime.

The bitch is the bitter female. Can you think of a male counterpart of the bitch in the English language?

If you can’t, then there’s probably none.

You know why?

Because there is no bitter male.

And what’s more absurd is the fact that instead of employing the best female qualities, alpha females ape the masculine. And because they pattern themselves from the male model, alpha females are really men in drag.