Gastonia, NC Correspondent- I am fortunate enough to have found one of the few remaining women who not only “lets” me run the household, but outright demands that I “be the man” in our daily affairs.  I’m not a dictator, but when the final decision comes, it’s mine to make for good or ill.  I am not a strutting egomaniac or petty tyrant, but when I deal with others my self-confidence usually gets me the outcome I desire.  For too long, alpha males have been lumped in with guys who are pushy and overly aggressive because they actual lack confidence and real masculinity.  I eat those guys for breakfast, and any woman worth her salt won’t give them the time of day.  Alpha males built this country, and it’s time for them to reclaim their status and realize that there’s not a damned thing wrong with being male.

Prescott Valley, AZ Correspondent- The decline in real manhood has a number of causes and bringing it back from possible extinction may take some time, but if real solutions are found, they need to be incorporated into the American psyche for a return to a degree of normalcy within society.

There is a cultural war on the male persuasion and a generation of men, “Beta Males,” have been raised and indoctrinated into assuming traits that are far removed from those of men from past generations. Many men have acclimated themselves to this new identity and have accepted it in their lives and have somehow lost the strength, stamina and willingness to overcome their shortcomings and strive for what men in the past have accepted as their roles and responsibilities.

The reasons for the decline of the Alpha Male persona and the rise of the Beta Male are due to a wide range of cultural developments that have steadily moved through the decades leading up to the Millennium.  It appears that one of the main causes of the decline has been the feminist movement of the sixties and seventies, which paved the way for a change in family roles. The emphasis on the sensitivities of women and their place in the home and workforce became focal points of the movement along with the flood of attention placed on the inequalities that women faced. Men were subjugated to lesser roles of importance in the family and at work.  A man’s contributions to the family and workforce were devalued and his role in the family was relegated to one of equal or lesser footing than that of his wife or significant other. Emasculation has had a lasting effect on the lives of men ever since.

With the erosion of the predominance of the Alpha Male in both the family and work place, a downhill progression of American culture and the society surrounding it have been the result.  An overabundance or excess of beta tendencies can cause the deterioration of a whole society. When men become passive, dependent, lazy, unmotivated, unproductive, unreliable, insecure, overly sensitive, complacent, excuse-ridden, temperamental, wimpish and non-committal, serious societal consequences are the result.

In addition to the impact of the feminist movement,  other interrelated causes of the decline include how a man was raised, whether a mother acted in a two-parent capacity in the rearing of a child, and whether there was a masculine father or role model in the home.

Outside influences have also affected outcomes in how men have changed. Their peers, the educational system, the work environment, high unemployment, job scarcity,  job displacement, political ideologies, political correctness, welfare dependency, recreational drugs,  influential organizations, focus groups, leaders in different capacities, the end of the draft and other extraneous factors have all prompted men to stray from their traditional roles, duties and obligations.

A deterioration of moral standards and lower expectations of men in general have also played a big part in the decline of manhood. Qualities such as strength, honor, honesty, self-reliance, freedom/independence, self-governance, duty, toughness, industriousness, competence, dependability, and accountability have all taken a blow under current beta male predominance.

Men that don’t want to be identified with Beta Males have had to stand their ground and fight their way out of today’s new standards and make their way towards something representative of an Alpha Male, which many attempt to do through service in the military, through careers that require loyalty, problem solving, sacrifice, commitment and through devotion to traditional family life and friends.

The ability to lead is pivotal and whether beta or alpha, men need to realize that in the end, this is the kind of force that changes a family and a nation, whether as head of a family, a business or an organization.  The alphas need to gently persuade the betas that time’s a wasting. A march on Washington would be a symbolic start and maybe the new leader in the White House could initiate the movement, which he indirectly already has. Committed leaders are the glue that holds a gamily, community and country together and without them, society and the culture cannot effectively operate.

In order to bring manhood back from the verge of extinction, outlooks have to change as to what the real role of men should be in American society. If any changes are going to be made, it has to occur at the family level and through educational programs that are aimed directly at raising young boys to be independent, responsible, motivated and committed to preserving the roles of traditional males.

Owatonna, MN Correspondent- The concept of Alpha Males is as old as primates themselves and is founded on the biological and evolutionary theory of survival of the fittest. That worked fine for millennia. Then man ascended to the top of the food chain due to superior brain power. This has rendered physical strength and related attributes less relevant now that we primarily use knowledge, language, and intelligence to survive.

To say society is in a downfall assumes that the only way for society to survive and thrive is if dominant males are in control. Yet, we don’t know and can’t know what would have happened to society if the hierarchy had been reversed and women were in control. They may have succeeded equally well, or done better.

Raw power can only get a being so far. We have learned from experience that brains will almost always prevail over brawn, so Alpha Males must necessarily be in decline because humans have so greatly expanded their intelligence and knowledge of how the world works. Women have essentially been mere passengers and observers of human development and society until only the last one hundred years or so. It’s entirely possible their ascension to an equal role in determining the fate of society will be positive, perhaps even more beneficial than society would have seen if Alpha Males were to remain in power for the foreseeable future.

The most constructive thing that can be done to “bring manhood back from the brink” is to allow womanhood to flourish and reach full potential. Males and females are biologically different for an important reason: each complements the other. Together they are able to create a better world than either sex could accomplish alone. We need to have a cooperative spirit that says, “You males do what you do best. We females will do what we do best. Together we’ll make our world the best it can be.”