{"id":43000,"date":"2020-12-03T14:30:55","date_gmt":"2020-12-03T22:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/?p=43000"},"modified":"2020-12-17T14:34:29","modified_gmt":"2020-12-17T22:34:29","slug":"in-praise-of-men-part-iii-testosterone-the-elephant-in-the-room","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/2020\/12\/03\/in-praise-of-men-part-iii-testosterone-the-elephant-in-the-room\/","title":{"rendered":"IN PRAISE OF MEN, Part III<\/br> Testosterone — The Elephant in the Room"},"content":{"rendered":"

I intended this to be part IV, but it demanded to be written before “A Good Man.” So here you go. And my continuing apologies to the two men who are still patiently waiting for me to get around to using the interviews they gave me.<\/em><\/p>\n

—–<\/p>\n

It begins with testosterone.<\/p>\n

That’s an oversimplication, of course. It begins there but doesn’t even remotely end there. You have testosterone. I have testosterone. Everybody has testosterone. We all also have some share of other male and female hormones. <\/p>\n

That doesn’t erase the dominantly binary expression of sex and sexuality. Can’t discount all those DNA differences<\/a>, for one thing. And men — or as they might be known these days, persons with testicles — have a lot more testosterone<\/a> and are physically and mentally affected by it in countless ways, good, bad, and well … just different. <\/p>\n

—–<\/p>\n

I have a friend who calls himself a testosterone addict. He should know. He was gifted (or cursed) with levels of testosterone that are nearly off the charts.<\/p>\n

He has also been forced at times to undergo chemical treatments that temporarily reduce his “Big T” to nearly nothing. So he knows what it’s like practically to OD on testosterone and on the other hand what it’s like to go cold turkey.<\/p>\n

On testosterone, he is competitive, decisive, highly sexual, unflappable, intellectually rigorous, and a successful scientist, engineer, and entrepreneur. Because his body originally grew under the influence of high testosterone, he’s also big, strong, hairy, built like a porn star<\/del> (I’m not saying that on a PG-rated blog), and has many of the other traits we associate with macho men.<\/p>\n

But when doctors zap his Big T nearly to zero — different story. His motivation dissolves along with the most powerful part of his sex drive. His thinking gets fuzzy. His spelling and grammar go from excellent to dubious. He hates his life. He apologizes for everything. He gets weepy over all manner of things. At the same time, he also becomes more empathetic. He develops both “women’s intuition” and gaydar. (Side note: The worst of the two testosterone-zapping drugs he’s been subjected to is now frequently given to adolescent or pre-adolescent boys who believe they want to be girls. Think on that, if you can bear to.)<\/p>\n

My friend is just one small example of the power of testosterone.<\/p>\n

Here are more examples<\/a> from the transcript of one of the most popular episodes ever produced by the NPR show This American Life<\/em>. <\/p>\n

Scroll down to the segments “Life at Zero” and “Infinite Gent,” respectively about a man who lost his testosterone due to a medical condition and a woman who transitioned to male and immediately became not only more libidinous but — in mind, if not action — predatory toward women. (And that was actually one of the less dramatic impacts of a sudden testosterone rush.)<\/p>\n

In a final segment of that episode, the entire staff of This American Life<\/em>, male and female, had their testosterone measured. If you’ve ever endured the twee little voice of host Ira Glass or slogged your way through one of TAL’s often drivel-driven broadcasts, you won’t be at all surprised to learn that every male crew member had below-normal testosterone, some shockingly so. Also, fellow crew members were able to predict which female staffer had the most testosterone simply by observing her behavior.<\/p>\n

—–<\/p>\n

Of course testosterone isn’t the be-all and end-all of manhood. But here are just a few of the (mostly) positives it grants its best-endowed bearers:<\/p>\n