...to hate the term 'alpha male'?

[Tabsicle]

It drives me irrationally insane.

Humans are not wolves! No man, even if he works in the city, is responsible for forging his team into a lean, mean, hunting machine, bringing down deer with lethal precision using only their teeth and claws.

Nonsense evolutionary pop psychology at its worst.

You can tell it's Easter and I have time on my hands, right?

What makes you associate the term with gorillas though?

And why is it that you find it "silly" in italics?

In my opinion, being an "alpha" is a quality that can only be judged and used appropriately by other people who know you, not by yourself.

I agree. Boastfulness doesn't seem a very "alpha" characteristic to me. The term "alpha male/female" is pretentious and narrow-minded. Not everyone defines success in that old-fashioned way any more...