#Anyway I'm calling these guys 'multiscosis' which is just latin for 'many partners'

[love-and-monsters]

intrigued by the concept of "harem manager", please tell me more!

Okay, so the idea comes about from looking at species that have harems in real life- specifically ones that have female mimics. The idea is that while an alpha male looks significantly different from females and will drive off other males from mating with them, a beta male looks much more similar to the females. They just kind of insert themselves into the harem and mate with the females (and sometimes the alpha males!) surreptitiously.

My thought was, as the species evolved and moved toward intelligence, it would be harder and harder for the beta males to actually trick the alpha males. As language and communication evolved, there would be a lot more social knowledge about who's in what group, and I just don't think it would be feasible for beta males to fly under the radar forever. Instead, these beta males would make themselves useful to the alpha to avoid getting kicked out.

In the way distant past, beta males would sort of appoint themselves as harem keepers. They would be the ones to make sure the ladies in the harem were taken care of, groomed, fed, and made comfortable. They would also sometimes act as spokesmen for their alpha, talking him up to entice other ladies into the harem. In return, they would be allowed to have children of their own, though typically less often than the alpha. This reproductive strategy ended up allowing alphas to have larger harems, maintain larger swathes of territory, and successfully raise more children, and allowed the beta males to live relatively protected lives with guaranteed children in the future.

In more modern society, beta males (known typically as gynomorphs) are appointed to larger harems as harem managers. Their role is pretty much the same as it was in the past- ensure the happiness and harmony of the harem. Sort out fights, ensure everyone is treated fairly, and make sure the ladies of the harem are kept comfortable. A harem manager often acts as something of a combo between a head servant (in wealthy families, it's his job to manage the servants who interact with the harem, in less wealthy families he might take on the role of a servant himself) and counselor. If any of the ladies in the harem have an issue, they're encouraged to go to him first, so see if he can sort it out.

The gender breakdown is about 60% female, 30% male, and 10% gynomorph, so not every harem has a manager. Gynomorphs as individuals tend to have a lot of individual social mobility (even someone born to a poor family will often live a generally good life, since wealthier people have larger harems and more often need a manager, so any halfway competent gynomorph will often get snapped up into one of these families) but they had no ability to socially move their families. In the specific society I've created, gynomorphs don't take on family names and just take the family name of whatever harem they manage, so they can't elevate family statuses.

Gynomorphs who don't have harems often struggle. They tend toward hospitality positions, since it's considered 'appropriate,' but most of those who take those positions tend to have harems and work on the side to make extra money for their families. The issue is that gynomorphs who don't have harems are seen as either incompetent (they screwed up their job bad enough to get fired, something that's hard to do unless you REALLY fucked up due to the relative rarity of gynomorphs) or deviant (they aren't in a harem so they don't want a harem position, which is typically seen as selfish at best or perverted at worst, if they're engaging in romantic relationships).

Whether or not gynomorphs and males of the same harem are related varies society by society. They often aren't, though it's not uncommon for cousins to be paired up as teenagers in wealthier families. Some societies consider it unusual but not worth remarking on if the gynomorph and male of a harem are siblings. Other societies consider it basically the same as incest.

I could talk more on the physical differences between gynomorphs and males, but I think this is long enough. People can ask if they want more details in that realm! Anyway, I'm just into the dynamics at play here. I think it's cool.