The Antisocial-Asexual Hierarchy
In the realms of Toxic Masculinity there are number of labels and status symbols that may boggle the mind of any reasonable person. Some of you may remember the Pickup Artist trend of the late 2000s, early 2010s, populated by sordid figures like the alt-right blogger Roosh V. This trend was a guise for chauvinist men based on the premise that if you play "the game" right and tell a woman the right lies, you can convince her to sleep with you. Eww. Clearly these men are overcompensating for something here.
But the Pickup Artist scene popularized the idea of Alpha and Beta males. Alphas are like the polygamist male in the pride of lions, and the Beta is a weak, unassertive male that no woman wants. It's this strange, binary worldview where people define their own and other mens' values based on how many women they can pick up.
Years later, also-alt-right commentator and author Vox Day started preaching a new version of this Alpha/Beta dynamic. He coined the term "Socio-Sexual Hierarchy," the idea that you can categorize males and their relationships with both men and women into these 5 categories. He gives a defining characteristic for each: Alpha (leadership), Beta (loyalty), Delta (competence), Gamma (dishonesty), Omega (socially-handicapped). At the root of this is that it's still a hierarchy. The alpha males are supposedly the most attractive to women and have status over men, and life becomes an equally-toxic competition as was the case with the previous Alpha/Beta tiers.
Now, if you've stuck with me through the unsavory topics, let's get on with it. Do you see the trend? It's alt-right men defining themselves and their value based on how many women they can manipulate into sleeping with them. Or how they measure up in an endless pissing contest with other petty men. The Socio-Sexual Hierarchy and its predecessors are, by nature: toxic, over-competitive, and misogynistic.
In this article, I want to provide a framework that gives us a better way to look at our roles in society and how we relate to others.
The Antisocial-Asexual Hierarchy.
Because it's not a male-only issue. Here we recognize the importance of women, nonbinary, and all other genders.
I do hate to call it a "hierarchy," though, because this isn't about some ranked tier list where everyone desperately over-compensates to try and be an Alpha.
The Antisocial-Asexual Hierarchy is intended to observe how some of us relate to the world around us and to others. This list of personality types is by no means exhaustive, and you are free to choose how you self-identify. This list is intended to provide some healthy, non-toxic options. Because we're more important than what's in our pants, and we don't have to define ourselves by our relationships, romantic or platonic, with other people.
The basis for the Antisocial-Asexual Hierarchy traces back to a series of sociological studies conducted in the early 2010s (T. Dickson, et al) that have given us more insight into the study of personality type-ing. Unlike a Meyers Briggs or Gallup's Clifton Strengthsfinder test, which are often intended for an academic or professional environment, the Antisocial-Asexual hierarchy is intended to target how we see ourselves as individuals and as people. Whereas the results of the previously-mentioned type-ing "tests" may reduce us into their narrow definitions and what they expect out of an individual, the Antisocial-Asexual Hierarchy is designed to empower us and not be restricted by the labels of supposedly "good"/"bad" personality traits.
The rest of the Greek alphabet is our "oyster," as it were. So let's get on with defining the 5 personality types of the Antisocial-Asexual Hierarchy: Epsilon, Zeta, Kappa, Omicron, and Xi.
Epsilon (ε)
Someone who is an Epsilon fulfills the role of an older brother to a baby sibling. An Epsilon is an effective teacher and mentor and role model, though there is often an age or generational gap that prevents them from forming a genuine friendship with their baby sibling figure.
The key characteristic of an Epsilon: protective. Epsilons are very dependable for their wards. Although an Epsilon may be in a situation where only see their baby sibling when they're visiting home from college, they stand up for them and are allies to them in a way they would be to a loved one they see every day.
Note that the Epsilon is not a teacher or a coach. They lead more by example than through direct influence in one's life.
Zeta (ζ)
The Zeta is the classic NEET ("Not in Employment, Education, or Training). This person may be lacking direction in life and, as a result, coupled oftentimes with social anxieties, may not leave home much or be around other people regularly. The Zeta can also be embodied by the "free spirit" type, not bound by conventional career paths or relationships, but their wandering still tends to be aimless.
The Zeta is defined by the key attribute: apathy. These individuals lack direction because the direction to them doesn't matter.
Some people might try and diagnose this feature of a Zeta as "Millennial disenfranchisement" (reductionist, in my opinion) or as "nihilistically enlightened," but these people don't understand the trappings of a Zeta. The Zeta is not beholden to the traditional ideas of a "successful life" (whatever that means), and this can be offputting to some people.
Kappa (κ)
A Kappa is who you see when you turn on Twitch late at night and tab over to the "Just Chatting" category. This is the solo internet streamer, the majority of social interactions for whom is through Superchats and comments on their videos (oh, and Twitter).
Kappas may struggle with direct social interaction irl ("in real life") and with little things like maintaining eye contact while talking with someone.
The core idea behind a Kappa is: abstraction.
Kappas tend to be very intelligent and analytical. They usually exude charisma and confidence, sometimes feigned but which is important for holding the attention of their Twitch/YouTube/Twitter audience when they broadcast live for hours on end and often on a daily basis.
A Kappa is more interested in ideas than in people, which is why most may feel more comfortable on an internet forum than at a party.
Omicron (ο)
This is the crazy cat man/woman/nonbinary/other (yes, crazy cat men are a thing). The Omicron has an obsessive personality. Omicrons are who fuel the Gig Economy and tend never to hold a hobby or job long. They're the friends who use their dogs and cats as an excuse not to go out to the club with you (on more than one occasion).
The key attribute of an Omicron is: distraction.
The Omicron is a kindred spirit to the Zeta. They both lack specific direction in life. But the Omicron is characteristically passionate, whereas the Zeta lacks that particulate passion or fire. Omicrons engross themselves short-term into every little thing that interests them and can never settle one life path. They are the ultimate hobbyists, the jacks of all trades but masters of none, and so on.
This is also why the Omicron may gain more from animal relationships over human ones. Omicrons can be good caretaker-types and benefit from the consistency of a cat or a dog (or a lot of cats and/or dogs).
Xi (ξ)
A Xi ("she") is a trivia master. This is the person who speaks only in obscure facts about nerd culture. Xis relate better to people through quoting a director's commentary than on any personal level.
Xis are defined by the key characteristic: unfiltered. There's a phrase, "facts over knowledge," and I think that is core to understanding the behavior of a Xi.
Xis are databases prime for the mining. But others may not understand the logic behind a Xi, and this is because Xis tend to speak very directly and very literally. This directness may be interpreted by some people as being brash or even insensitive.
So? Isn't that a lot better?
No more of that, men fighting to see who is the most cis-heterosexual and chauvinist, idea that was core to the Socio-Sexual hierarchy.
A lot of us don't have the "traditional" family, work, and relationship structure that other, closed-minded people may assume and may try to identify as "normal." So it really doesn't make a lot of sense for us to try to fit into their little boxes and into their out-dated worldview. That's one thing I really want to accomplish by spreading the word about the Antisocial-Asexual Hierarchy.
Leave a comment and let me know how you self-identify!
This is something I'd like to see popping up in Twitter bios, right below preferred pronouns.
I personally think I'm a Zeta/Kappa (major/minor types) 🙂 .