Omega This

[alessnox]

Today, I began reading an omega fic, and I am beginning to think that omega stories are some of the scariest ones that I've read in my life.

If you don't know, Alpha, Beta, Omega stories are fan fiction stories that are based loosely on a perceived hierarchy of Wolf politics that has been highly popularized in some circles. In this universe, all people are classed into these three groups whether male or female. These alternate sexes determine who they will mate with, and males are a sort of hermaphrodite with a kind of cloaca as well as a penis.

This strange made up biology means that you can have male pregnancy or mpreg which is one of the stranger things about these stories, and for a long time I looked on these stories with mild amusement and disbelief. But as I have delved deeper into the stories, I become more and more horrified, and here is my take on the psychology of Alpha/ Beta/ Omega politics.

ALPHA / OMEGA SEX

Almost all of the alpha Omega stories that I have seen have a relationship between two men, an Alpha, and an Omega.
The Alpha is dominant and will mount and mate with the Omega. The Omega will submit to being mounted, and will almost always become pregnant from a mating. The Omega goes into heat, and will accept any male at that time. The Alpha will be possessive. Fight for the omega, and bite and scratch her/him during sex. Neither Alphas nor Omegas have any control over their ability to mate. They must mate when the scent (hormones) overtake them.

Alpha/Omega sex seems to me to be the perception of sex as seen by a preteen. Sexual desire is something that they see affecting older youth. As a preteen their bodies will have begun to change, but their minds are still like those of children. They don't understand the desire that others feel, only the outer manifestations of such desire. They see people not much older than themselves going to great lengths to have sex. They see them having sex even when it leads to unwanted pregnancy. They hear stories of people saying, "I just couldn't control myself" and sexual desire becomes an alluring and yet frightening prospect.

For the young girl, sex is a process by which she gets mounted. She may have heard that it will be painful at first, but then she will begin to like it. Having had her period, she understands that bodily secretions from the sex organs are normal, but she may still be confused about what will happen and how.

The alpha/ omega stories are full of bodily secretions for both males and females. Men are seen as indefatigable, desiring sex and willing to impregnate their mates over and over. The females are seen as wanton and may be called derogatory names such as "sluts". Neither of the participants can consciously control their bodies. They are not to blame. They are not at fault. It is all chemistry.

This fantasy allows a person to indulge in sexual desires that they may have been taught was shameful in an acceptable way. They can't control their desires. Sexual desire takes them. They have no control or responsibility for their own actions. Everyone forgives them for it, because there was nothing else that they could do.

Alpha/Omega sex is often violent. It is often nonconsensual. Also, after being forced and usually hurt, they admit to having enjoyed the sex. Afterwards the violence is explained way. "Sorry honey, I didn't mean to hurt you, I just couldn't control myself because you were so hot".

WHY ARE THEY MOSTLY MEN?

I think that most of the alpha / omega sex stories have two men as protagonists, because having a woman be sexually dominated is too threatening to many women. They need that extra layer of abstraction to get any enjoyment of it. In many cultures, women are taught to fear men. Many women believe that some or even most men would rape them if given a chance. They live in fear of such things, and stories about women being sexually dominated by men are uncomfortable. Stories where men are being violent to men are common, however. Men are used to violence, and they are not women, so although the female reader can empathize with the men, they do not fully identify with them.

OMEGAVERSE?

Alpha / Omega stories feel sort of tainted to me. They also make me sad. They imply that the cultures that we live in are nowhere near as open and egalitarian as we would wish for. They imply that women still fear sexual violence, and need coping mechanisms to deal with said violence when it occurs. It implies that sexual education is so lacking that many people have their first sexual experiences with very little understanding of the act, and with lots of misinformation and fear.

SO WHY IS IT STILL HERE?
Because it turns the women on. Even if a woman instinctively knows that being hurt and forced to have sex is wrong, she may still have the desire to be sexually dominated. For many woman, admitting this causes shame.  This abstracted form of sex allows many people to fulfill their desires without having to admit why it turns them on, even to themselves.

The stories also deal with issues of great relevance to women such as pregnancy, family politics, childbirth, child rearing, emotional bonding with mates and children, breast feeding, etc. The absurdity of the sexual biology allows one to discount it saying that it is just fantasy, while still finding meaning in the stories.

I still find myself heavily conflicted by this genre. On the one hand, it is good that women find a way to get sexual fulfillment and to talk about issues that disturb them. On the other hand, it is sad that so many women are emotionally unable to directly talk about these issues due to societal values and shaming. Despite women's advances in the last century, I don't imagine that the need for these stories will be going away any time soon.