Chapter 107 - Alphas, betas, and the capitalists who betrayed us
Chapter 107 - Alphas, betas, and the capitalists who betrayed us
*Arf* *Arf*
Beluga continued educating Ben while his beagle sniffed another pooch's butt in the dog park. "You remember I once told you that most of our impulses are unevolved remnants from the caveman days?"
Ben nodded.
"Modern s.e.x.u.a.l dynamics also developed from that time. Cavemen tried to i.m.p.r.e.g.n.a.t.e as many females as possible, because having more children maximized the survival chances of their genes. That's how men did it. Now, consider this: how did women spread their genes?"
"Hmmm..." Ben rubbed his chin, as if choosing his words in the most careful manner. "Receiving nut…"
Beluga nodded. "Correct, the nut is a universal factor...but it's more important to consider the process after. A female could only pass on her genes by being pregnant herself, which took 9 months of her life, and incapacitated her. In that age, this created two important implications...
First, pregnancy generated a dependency on men. During pregnancy, a woman wasn't able to do much; It was unlikely she had any reliable means of acquiring food by herself. So how did females survive?"
Ben blinked. "Paleo diet?"
…
Shaking his head, Beluga ignored him. "A female survived by locking down a man, who became a provider of food, protection, and other resources for her and her child. This is the root of female dependency on males. It also extended past pregnancy to overall life, since women were physically weaker and less capable of acquiring food through hunting and gathering. This issue amplified further if she had to raise weak children. Even in modern times, you still see this male-female dynamic where the man is the breadwinner in a couple..."
Listening on with rapt attention, Ben began to better understand male-female relationsh.i.p.s…
Beluga continued. "This first implication during caveman days, of female dependency on men, led to the second implication: it was not in a woman's best interest to have casual s.e.x with random males. Pregnancy was and still is a serious danger to a woman's health and survival chances. Getting pregnant by a random drifter created a disaster. Thus, the risk of casual s.e.x for a woman was much higher than for a man. Before birth control, a woman who was a s.l.u.t was a fool…"
Ben gained a new appreciation for science. 'God bless birth control…'
Beluga looked up to the sky for a moment as if saying his own prayer...
Then he returned to speaking. "Since most females weren't idiots, they were selective with their partners, wholesome. This is also the original root of why even today, there's a double standard for promiscuity in females vs. males. S.l.u.t-shaming has always existed, but the interesting thing is that the majority shaming them were not men, but females! It was because a s.l.u.t made access to s.e.x easier, which hurt the wholesome women who tried to ensnare men..."
"How did they ensnare them?"
"The same way they females do now, through a slow courting process; extracting their time, resources, and emotions in exchange for potential s.e.x. One reason they do this is they want those things. The other is they want to make the man invested in them, making it easier to get him to commit to a relationship. That way he won't just leave after sleeping with them. You could say…those women are artificially inflating the value of their v.a.g.i.n.as!"
Ben shook his head. "Damn greedy capitalists…"
Beluga's eyes became solemn. "Indeed…they're like De Beers diamonds, limiting supply to control the price… They've built a p*ssy pedestal of lies and deceit…
S.l.u.ts go against that mold, which harms the interests of the v.a.g.i.n.a banking lobby…
That's why even now, s.l.u.t-shaming still survives…"
Ben squeezed his fists. "It's not right! S.l.u.ts should be celebrated!"
"You're goddamn right… Despite that, city hall continues to refuse my petition to create an official s.l.u.t day…" Beluga grimaced... "But we'll put that aside for now. The point of the story circles back to the original issue of there being different mating strategies for males and females.
As explained earlier, a man's best strategy is to have as many partners as possible. Yet, for a woman, partnership carries high risk, so she needs to be selective. A female's ideal approach is thus to lock down a provider who will stay during and after pregnancy. Since the beginning of time, this role has been accepted by primarily one type of man…" Beluga frowned while his tongue formed the words, as if they carried a disgusting taste. "The beta…"
A sudden crack of thunder resounded through the sky despite there being no clouds!
The dogs started barking!
The smaller, weaker ones were shivering as if a fate worse than death was about to befall them!
"You see, Benjamin, alpha-males are the pack leaders, the high-value men. They're the ones who have the choice of the litter for their partners, often sleeping with multiple women. Look over there." He pointed to a large Pitbull that was swaggering its way through the dog park, sniffing all the females… "That's an alpha male, going from female to female, doing whatever it wants. Now, look at those smaller dogs over there…"
The little dogs were trying to keep a distance from the pitbull, intimidated by its size and aggression. Since the pitbull was near all the lady dogs, the small dogs were also far from them as a consequence.
Beluga explained. "Those little dogs are the weaker and lower-value betas. They exist in a status hierarchy that's consistent amongst many species of social animals, including primates and humans. These betas who have few partnership options have to become providers in exchange for s.e.x, often only after an alpha male has already moved on from a female or she's aged. It's even common for a beta to raise another man's child. Or worse: for an alpha to i.m.p.r.e.g.n.a.t.e his woman, while the beta provider raises the kid, not even knowing he isn't the father…"
Ben smirked. "The cuckoldest trick in the book…"
Now this was a topic he knew about… He reflected on it by imagining the face of Penelope's boyfriend yesterday when he saw the photos…
"The alpha-beta dynamic is also why women like men that they can't have, and dislike needy guys. Females prefer alphas and wanting a relationship is a signal of beta status…"
"If girls prefer betas as providers, then why do they sleep with alphas first?"
"While betas provide security, women also have another genetic motivation: to secure a partner with the most valuable genes.
Such genes involve good looks, strength, health, intelligence, etc. They're often possessed by alphas. When reproducing with such an alpha, these valuable genes would then be more likely to pass down to the female's offspring.
Then, the child would have a higher chance to find mates later due to having high value genes. Since the kid is the carrier of the woman's genes, this creates the cyclical incentive for her to find an alpha... You'll notice that these valuable genes are the same things females search for in modern men..."
Ben now understood why it was so universal for girls to like certain kinds of men...
Beluga continued. "Because of all this, females have an inner conflict. They prefer alphas, but can only have them for a short time. That's because the majority won't settle down by nature because they have many options for women. That makes it an unattractive proposition to settle down with only one as it goes against their ideal reproductive strategy. This is still true even today.
So what females often do is go from alpha to alpha, until they reach an age where their s.e.x.u.a.l value drops, and they settle down with a beta. Although, many still cheat with alphas while with the beta…"
Ben digested the information...
"Benjamin, these are the things you need to know when considering if you really want that girlfriend. Monogamy is preferable for a woman…but for a man, and at your age, it's not a great proposition. The reason most young men get a girlfriend is inexperience and because they want regular access to s.e.x. In your case, with your improving pick-up skills, that's unnecessary. So unless you're trying to start a family now, it would not be in your best interest…"
Knitting his eyebrows, Ben contemplated everything. It was a lot to think about.
Beluga gazed at him with a stern expression. "I hope by now, you understand you have a choice. Many of the same rules that apply to animals apply to us, but we're not stuck in our positions like dogs. We can change. We can improve ourselves. So, you can become an alpha by working on yourself and your game, or you can live as a beta…and let the alphas eat first."
Realizing Beluga was right, Ben nodded. He'd made his choice. 'I'm hungry, daddy needs first dibs…'
As he looked out at the dog park, there was one last issue bothering him though. "I understand about alphas and betas, but which one is that dog there?" Ben pointed to a twitchy stray dog on the outside the fence that was foaming at the mouth.
Beluga frowned. "That's a woman's worst nightmare—the deadly omega…"