Richie is the perfect choice for The Bachelor. Because Alpha males are over.

Image via Channel Ten.

Richie Strahan being announced as the next Bachelor has divided my girlfriends into two camps:

1. Those who believe we have been ripped off, and
2. Those who believe it is TIME.

The lovable ragamuffin of The Bachelorette is not the typical Alpha male we’ve seen in Bachelors’ past.  He’s not the chest-beating, take-charge-kinda-guy who will sweep you off your feet, throw you on the bed and claim you as his woman.  He’s the antithesis.

A Beta male.

He has all the hallmarks.  The nerves, the sweet nature and awkward ways, the way he stumbled and fumbled his way into the final three.

And when all the other men had already declared their love for Sam with confident declarations – he mustered all his courage, quelled his nerves, swallowed hard and took what seemed like an eternity to tell Sam that………. he ‘really liked’ her.

Beta males are the BEST.

And they’re exactly the kind of man the modern woman needs.

Beta men are the ones who have more kindness than confidence. They’re more interested in reaching an collaborative understanding and talking through a conflict than throwing a punch.  They’re the feminist Ryan Goslings of the world. They’re not dancing in the middle of a club in a tight shirt. They’re not wearing power suits and developing a crushing handshake and discussing footy. They’re not carving notches in their belt, slapping women on the arse and getting home late wondering where dinner is. (Okay, that’s a bit of a stretch, but you know what I mean).

They’re the nice guys. Maybe they’re the quiet guys or the nerdy guys. And now they finally get to finish first.

But they’re not for everyone, as we found out this week on Mamamia Out Loud:

Editor in Chief Kate de Brito, who has been swooning over Travis Fimmell from Vikings, isn’t attracted to the Baby Bjorn wearing beta-male. She thinks it’s hard to beat the attraction of the Alpha.

She has a good point; I’ve dated my share of Alpha males and I’ll be honest, they’re sexy A F. It was always exciting and thrilling to begin with; confidence is magnetic and we’d get together in a whirl of attraction. Having someone else take charge, make decisions, be the provider and protector is ridiculously alluring.

But more often than I’d like to admit, I ended up playing housewife while they ended up with their dick in someone else.

Standing up! Real men say “No” to domestic violence! @whiteribbonaust #whiteribbonday

A photo posted by Richie Strahan (@richie_strahan) on Nov 24, 2015 at 9:42pm PST

  With Beta men, it’s different. They might take a little time to make their feelings known. But that’s only because they’re considerate and deliberate in their actions. They’re sensitive and understanding. They are the ones with the Baby Bjorn strapped on, mop in hand, because expectations of traditional gender roles don’t mean shit to them, but being collaborative and responsible does. They, like Richie, would find a personal video from their mum and sister as an extremely meaningful gesture. Beta men aren’t passive wimps. They’re just the guy standing in the corner while the women swoon over Alpha men. And now finally they’re the one with all the roses. Listen to the full episode in itunes or here: Join the discussion on the facebook page