Alpha, Beta, and Gamma are three letters of the Greek language. If the first thought that swings around your mind when you hear them reminds you of Greek or takes you back to your high school physics class, then it’s time you realise the time has caught up to you. In today’s social media-driven world of people constantly craving to associate themselves with an identity, men have decided to classify themselves with the abovementioned letters to stand out. With personality traits and social identity emerging as trends and things you need to follow, guys on the internet decided to make something for themselves. And this is where it all began.
A huge chunk of men now perceives society to be a simulation or what they call to be, “The Matrix.” Rigged systems, capitalism, and other buzzwords fly around their vocabulary when they explain their so-called theory. Thus, to escape it, the same men came out with different personas to be the ceiling of what one can achieve in life. They assume that inheriting those personalities could somehow help them. With so many archetypes circling the web, it’s natural to get confused. Among them, the Sigma is a type of male archetype which has been quite popular. People give it many times; “Sigma Male,” “Sigma mindset”, “Sigma Grindset”, etc. The mindset, as mentioned earlier, or “grind set,” influences different paradigms of their life. One of which is their consumer behaviour.
Sigma is a lifestyle followed only by elite males who are successful in the current sphere of society. They are the lone wolf because they think following what everyone is doing is a waste of time. A sigma is seen as smart and successful, yet also who doesn’t blow the horns when it comes to self-boasting. They are very conscious of their health and obsessed with their fitness commitments. This allowed many fitness brands to sympathise with the same wavelength and tried selling them various forms of products of sponsorship deals. Many have succeeded. Many have not. Quite often, Sigmas are shown to be doing multiple things at once – investing in cryptos, real estate (the narrative where they know investing is good), and other self-claimed productive activities simultaneously to show that one can multitask and put more work into getting ahead in life. This also provided a platform for scammers to sell corrupt products vaguely. Many content creators have also joined the bandwagon and catered to them with their own products by preaching similar things to get more followers and gain some bucks on the way.
An ideal pop culture role model for “Sigma males” is Patrick Bateman, the main character of the 2000 film American Psycho. In the movie, Bateman is very materialistically oriented, has a great eye for detail and is often seen paying attention to the minute things in his daily routine. Following him, people make similar decisions when it comes to purchasing anything. Since Sigmas believe in individuality, their research on products is top-notch. They are unlikely to buy something even if it’s flashy or trendy and will mostly opt for things that go with their wants and budget. In a nutshell, they inherit the notion that everyone is independent and individually different from each other. So in the world of marketing tricks and big annual releases, the events rarely work with them.
Sigmas also take great pride in their non-conformist views. Social customs and traditional beliefs are a few foundations in the society they don’t acknowledge, which is also reflected in their consumerism habits. Because of this, we observe how they aren’t swayed by the latest fashion releases and tech purchases, which is annually a huge frenzy among the world’s common people. Sigmas could care less about brand values and brand loyalty. As a matter of fact, they are always willing to sacrifice the brand image for something lesser known if it fits their choice. Similarly, many firmly believe in durability and long-term thinking. The chances of constantly buying new products are also very slim since it doesn’t go with them.
With the Sigma way of thinking, brands can struggle to win them over. However, people accepting and preaching a similar mindset can still jeopardise other personnel of the society. Content promoting Sigma male lifestyles is provided to the mass audience through reels(short clips containing information), social media posts, and, on a larger scale, youtube videos. These sorts of posts often look like motivational sayings on a photo, videos where muscular men who deem themselves Sigma offer derogatory advice, etc. The culture is transcending the lives of little boys and children. The boys end up calling themselves Sigma and act like it. This ends up being a cycle for the men and boys to change according to the standard of the “Sigma Mindset” portrayed online. While social media corporations have tried monitoring and intervening, the Sigmas eventually find similar echo chambers in different corners of the internet.
With the rising tendency of memes and people using social media for practically everything, it is getting increasingly hard for young men and boys to understand the proper way of life. Their view of society from different sociological and psychological perspectives unfolds large implications for themselves and the future generations to come. If we want to come out of this, we must think more than ever.
Author- Malik Araf
