# 15 Signs Youre A Sigma Male > 15 Signs You're a Sigma Male is a 2021 Smooby post parody series replacing Alpha M.'s YouTube thumbnail with absurd characters like Cheems, turning earnest self-help content into ironic shitposting fodder. **15 Signs You're a "Sigma" Male** is a series of Smooby post parodies based on a YouTube video by Alpha M. titled "15 Signs You're a 'SIGMA' Male (SUPER RARE) & Is it Better Than 'ALPHA?'" The format took off in May-June 2021 when Instagram users began replacing the video's thumbnail image with absurd characters like Cheems and Big Floppa, turning earnest sigma male self-help content into ironic shitposting fodder[3]. ## Origin On May 16, 2021, YouTuber Alpha M. uploaded "15 Signs You're a 'SIGMA' Male (SUPER RARE) & Is it Better Than 'ALPHA?'" The video laid out 15 supposed traits of sigma males, framing them as rare, independent men who "play by their own rules." It picked up over 264,000 views within two months[3]. Three days later, on May 19, Instagram user cheemsitz posted a screenshot of the video's thumbnail, title, and view count with one key change: the man in the thumbnail was replaced with Cheems. The post pulled in over 15,900 likes in two months, establishing the parody template[3]. - **Platform:** YouTube (source video), Instagram (meme format) - **Creator:** Alpha M. (original video creator), cheemsitz (first parody edit) - **Date:** 2021 ## Overview The meme follows a simple format: a screenshot of Alpha M.'s original YouTube video thumbnail and title, but with the image of the "sigma male" swapped out for a random, usually absurd character. The joke works on two levels. First, it mocks the idea that being a "sigma male" is something you can diagnose from a checklist. Second, whatever character replaces the thumbnail (a dog, a cat, a fictional video game creature) is presented as the true sigma, which undercuts the whole concept[3]. The format is part of the broader wave of sigma male irony that peaked in 2021, where the entire masculinity hierarchy (alpha, beta, sigma) got absorbed into meme culture and stripped of whatever sincerity it once had[1]. ## How It Spread The format moved quickly through Instagram's meme ecosystem. On May 28, user gourmet.cat.memes posted an edit swapping Cheems for Big Floppa, earning over 5,000 likes in about a month[3]. By early June 2021, the template was spreading across multiple Instagram meme accounts. User smollbenis posted a version on June 2 that gained over 7,000 likes, and deathgripshitposting followed on June 7 with an edit that hit over 8,000 likes[3]. But the real breakout came on June 26, when Twitter user @SKULLHORNETS posted a Scrimblo Bimblo version. That tweet grabbed over 2,200 retweets and 13,100 likes in two weeks, and its wide circulation pulled even more people into the format[3]. The meme's timing was ideal. By 2021, sigma male content had already saturated YouTube and TikTok. Channels were churning out videos like "5 Psychological Tricks to Make Her Obsess Over You (Sigma Style)" and "Why Sigma Males Never Text Back (and Win Anyway)," creating a rich vein of self-serious content ripe for parody[1]. The "15 Signs" video, with its clickbait title and earnest tone, was a perfect target. ## How to Use The format typically follows a few steps: 1. Take a screenshot (or recreation) of the Alpha M. video thumbnail showing the title "15 Signs You're a 'SIGMA' Male." 2. Replace the person in the thumbnail with any character, animal, or object. The more absurd or unlikely the replacement, the better. 3. Post it as-is. The comedy comes from the contrast between the self-important title and the ridiculous "sigma" in the image. ## Cultural Impact The "15 Signs" parodies are a small but telling piece of the larger sigma male meme wave. The sigma archetype first appeared around 2010 as part of a jokey Twitter diagram ranking men into categories like Alpha, Beta, Delta, Gamma, Omega, Zeta, and Sigma, with Sigma placed above Alpha but off to the side[1]. By 2020, the concept had been absorbed into YouTube's self-improvement pipeline and TikTok's short-form content machine, with creators posting grainy clips of John Wick and Patrick Bateman set to dramatic music[1]. Research by Torres et al. (2022) found that memes like the sigma male offer men "an emotionally palatable narrative for detachment and emotional self-containment" during a period when traditional masculinity is being questioned[1]. The "15 Signs" parody format represents the internet's antibody response to that narrative, deflating it by putting a Shiba Inu where the brooding lone wolf should be. The broader sigma male irony also fed into later masculinity discourse online, including the "performative male" or "matcha male" trend that went viral in 2025, which similarly satirized performed male archetypes[2]. ## Fun Facts - The original Alpha M. video described sigma males as "SUPER RARE" in its title, which only made the parodies funnier since the format implies literally anything can be sigma[3]. - The sigma male concept started as satire itself. The original hierarchy diagram was posted as a joke on Twitter around 2010 before people started taking it seriously[1]. - By the time the "15 Signs" video dropped, Kindle Unlimited was already flooded with books like *The Sigma Male: What Women Want But Will Never Tell You* and e-courses promising "silent dominance"[1]. - The parody format is an example of a Smooby post, a genre of meme where screenshots of YouTube videos are edited to create absurd juxtapositions[3]. - The gap between the original video and the first parody was only three days, suggesting the video was immediately recognized as meme material[3]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is 15 Signs You're a "Sigma" Male? It's a meme format based on parodies of Alpha M.'s YouTube video "15 Signs You're a 'SIGMA' Male (SUPER RARE)." Users replace the man in the video thumbnail with absurd characters like Cheems or Big Floppa[3]. ### Where did 15 Signs You're a "Sigma" Male come from? The source video was posted by YouTuber Alpha M. on May 16, 2021. The first parody appeared on Instagram three days later when user cheemsitz edited Cheems into the thumbnail[3]. ### What does 15 Signs You're a "Sigma" Male mean? The meme satirizes the self-serious sigma male self-help genre by suggesting that any random character (a dog, a cat, a video game creature) could be a "sigma male," exposing the absurdity of the whole classification system[1]. ### How do you use 15 Signs You're a "Sigma" Male? Take a screenshot of the Alpha M. video and replace the person in the thumbnail with any character or object. The more ridiculous the replacement, the better the joke[3]. ### Is 15 Signs You're a "Sigma" Male still popular? The specific format peaked in mid-2021, though sigma male irony in general is still active across TikTok and other platforms[1]. ### Who is Alpha M.? Alpha M. is the YouTuber who posted the original "15 Signs You're a 'SIGMA' Male" video on May 16, 2021, which received over 264,000 views in two months[3]. ### What is a Smooby post? A Smooby post is a type of meme where a YouTube video screenshot is edited with absurd titles, thumbnails, or metadata. The "15 Signs" parodies follow this format by swapping the thumbnail image[3]. ### Why did the Scrimblo Bimblo version go viral? The version posted by Twitter user @SKULLHORNETS on June 26, 2021, gained over 2,200 retweets and 13,100 likes in two weeks. Its wide circulation on Twitter introduced the format to audiences beyond Instagram's meme community[3]. ### What is the sigma male hierarchy? The sigma male sits in a jokey social hierarchy that ranks men as Alpha, Beta, Delta, Gamma, Omega, Zeta, and Sigma. It originated around 2010 on Twitter as a humorous diagram placing Sigma above Alpha but outside the pack entirely[1]. ### Is the sigma male concept serious or ironic? Both. It started as satire around 2010, got picked up sincerely by self-help YouTubers and hustlepreneurs, and then got re-ironized by meme creators. The "15 Signs" parodies sit firmly on the ironic side[1]. ## References 1. [Sigma Male: The Meme That Moonwalked Out of the Masculinity Wars — Daniel Dashnaw]() 2. [15 Signs You're a "Sigma" Male - Know Your Meme]() 3. [Performative male]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/15-signs-youre-a-sigma-male Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library