October 24, 2026
"Testosterone levels have dropped worldwide by as much as fifty per cent since the nineteen-seventies..."
"... a decrease associated with the rising prevalence of obesity, because excess fat tissue decreases the production of testosterone and its binding proteins.... The Trump Administration draws a sharp distinction in legitimacy between the use of hormone therapy in the case of transgender-affirming care versus in cisgender-affirming care.... 'The trans population I take care of—a fair number of them aren’t looking to become something different than the gender they feel they are,' [endocrinologist Brad] Anawalt told me. 'They’re not looking to become supermen or superwomen.' This was a provocative suggestion: that transgender care, by offering harmony between a body and an identity, is, in a sense, naturalizing, whereas TRT used to compensate for insecurity and enhance masculinity might be the more unnatural intervention...."
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36 comments:
That's where I go for expert advice on military matters - The New Yorker. LOL.
Leaving aside military women, who are by definition "Low T", what are the military effects of below average "T" on say an Army Sargent or a Sailor?
I'd guess "The low T" is more a symptom of out-of-shape flabby service men. Mr. Pete needs to make them drop and give him 20.
Climate change strikes again. Is there anything it can't do ... or be blamed for?
Ever since I started actually running and spending an hour+ a day in zone 3 my T levels are just fine.
I believe this is a problem largely with being sedentary.
It also probably helps that I buy almost nothing from grocery stores and I drink all of my water out of stainless steel.
If “low T” does mean what Hegseth thinks it does, what then?
It happens from attending Obama rallies.
You see a lot of theories about why testosterone levels are dropping. I suspect that the main reason is the lack of strenuous, daily, physical activity. It's already a known fact that exercise will boost testosterone levels, so I don't think that it's too far a stretch to think that a long term lack of exercise will reduce testosterone levels. Yeah, people go to the gym, but that's not an entire day of exercise. One hundred years ago, people used to do a lot of physical labor all day long, all week long, all year long for most of their lives. And I also don't think that it's too far a stretch to think that the low testosterone levels might be passed down from one generation to the next. Heck, maybe that's the answer to the Fermi Paradox. As civilizations get more advanced, technology allows the people to exert less and less physical effort daily. After so many generations, the birth rates fall so low that the civilization eventually dies out because of reproductive apathy.
Who knew Wall-E was prophetic
Weight lifting has been shown to raise testosterone levels, but endurance exercise like running has the opposite effect.
Now I know the endocrinologist starts with a low dose and keeps increasing it until the patient experiences harmony between a body and an identity which is something I really hadn't thought about before.
I should clarify that endurance exercise in moderation raises T levels. I'm talking about serious high mileage training lowering T. When I was running 90+ miles per week I saw this first hand.
Were they really doing widespread testing of testosterone levels in the 1970s?
They are today, of course. But I am skeptical that any comparable data was available in the 70's.
I will read the article (if I can) and see what, if anything, it has to say about that.
Lady doesn't seem to like men.
I go to a "nice" gym. It has tanning and is on the way to work. Rich people who are serious about looking good. Lots of men taking gear and women trolling for D in those painted on strecthy short shorts and sports bras.
Most of the people there spend more time looking at their phones than working out. I used to do more of a power lifting bro dude workout regime but I would do multiple full body muscle groups and try to keep my heart rate up.
It wasn't enough. There is a real difference in my T levels and body function when I spend 30-45 minutes a day running and hitting high intensity stations in between.
Lifting heavy isn't all its cracked up to be.
From the New Yorker piece:
"In 2022, two-thirds of active-duty American service members were overweight or obese, and twenty-one per cent qualified as obese. Given this context, JAMA’s finding that a similar proportion of men might be found to have borderline low testosterone comes as no surprise."
Isn't this exactly what Pete Hegseth thinks it means?
So are we talking about so-called gender affirming care for adults or children? Big difference in my opinion.
And yes, other than blandly stating that the "science" of measuring testosterone levels has been sort of murky until quite recently, the article doesn't address the absence of old data (it doesn't provide any source for the claimed "as much as" 50% worldwide drop in testosterone levels since the 70's, or even explain what that is supposed to mean. Worldwide? Where and how)?
Also citing Steven Colbert for a "joke" that low-T used to just mean getting old is a big tell--not that the sneering tone about Hegseth, Kennedy and Joe Rogan wasn't already evidence of a confirmed lefty.
Rachael Bedard and her husband Gideon Friedman are closely associated with Zohran Mamdani. She is a
leftist activist MD opposed to incarceration, an admirer of Kathy Boudin, and a sitting member of the NYC Board of Corrections. For the Rachaels out there, an old, weak, fat US military is perfect.
"It happens from attending Obama rallies."
Very possible, but it's kind of a "chicken or the egg" situation.
Plus, not that many people go to Obama rallies so it doesn't explain everything.
I guess I'm what's known as an outlier.
It's because everybody is trams.
I thought MAGA was *against* gender affirming care?
I haven’t seen a bigger bunch of betas than this administration, and testosterone isn’t going to fix them, that’s for sure.
New Yorker via Boatbuilder: "In 2022, two-thirds of active-duty American service members were overweight or obese, and twenty-one per cent qualified as obese."
If that stat is based on BMI, it's worse than meaningless. A strapping Delta operator that breaches doors by just ripping them out of the wall could have the same BMI as a pudgy cook. One of Hegseth's reforms has been to get rid of or modify BMI-type tests in favor of functional combat fitness.
(In fairness to military cooks, a lot of them are in great shape because they have predictable hours so can get to the gym, plus a lot of them just stop liking food because they see it all the time. And hauling around a battalion's worth of food in a sweltering kitchen is exercise in itself. But you know what I mean. Maybe the pudgy cook has stress fractures from a triathlon and got assigned as the mess hall taste-tester for too long.) CC, JSM
The Army height-weight tables in effect when I was a new LT said I could only weigh 160 lbs at 5'6". That kept my runs fast, but made rucksacks hazardous to my health. You need a certain amount of muscle mass just to fight your equipment, let alone this country's enemies. CC, JSM
As if the Yew Norker would have a flippin’ clue, lol.
How many Hegseth pushups does it take to get an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz?
Left Bank of the Charles said...
How many Hegseth pushups does it take to get an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz?
Since tanker traffic through the strait is at or above pre-war levels for everyone except Iran I would say 2.
But thanks for showing everyone how stupid democrat voters are.
"It also probably helps that I buy almost nothing from grocery stores and I drink all of my water out of stainless steel."
Purity of Essence!
“ "Testosterone levels have dropped worldwide by as much as fifty per cent since the nineteen-seventies..."
Disappointing article. It doesn’t explain how Trump caused that. You’d expect The New Yorker to try harder.
And maybe affirmative action for women and gays in the military has made it somewhat more difficult to recruit high-T males these days.
Achilles, are you saying we need Iran’s oil flowing through the Strait to bring gas prices down to pre-war levels? Better do some more pushups.
"This was a provocative suggestion: that transgender care, by offering harmony between a body and an identity, is, in a sense, naturalizing,"
Involves hormones and surgery. Naturalizing?
"...whereas TRT used to compensate for insecurity and enhance masculinity might be the more unnatural intervention...."
That very statement is counterfactual.
Left Bank of the Charles said...
Achilles, are you saying we need Iran’s oil flowing through the Strait to bring gas prices down to pre-war levels? Better do some more pushups.
We need democrats and their WEF masters to stop shutting down and blowing up refineries.
And you were smart enough to note that we have never reached Biden gas price levels and you also know that average gas prices are as high as they are because of Democrats. Every democrat controlled state raises the national gas price.
Most Americans aren't as stupid as you are. We figured out electing democrats means higher gas prices every single time.
Thanks for playing.
**"This was a provocative suggestion: that transgender care, by offering harmony between a body and an identity, is, in a sense, naturalizing,"
Involves hormones and surgery. Naturalizing?
"...whereas TRT used to compensate for insecurity and enhance masculinity might be the more unnatural intervention...."
That very statement is counterfactual.**
"Don't try to confuse me with the facts!"
The New Yorker may be right in their assessment. But really, are we trusting the New Yorker to tell us about testosterone and the military?
The New Yorker staff needs more testosterone. The only staffer whose level is high enough is M. Gessen.
Whenever I wonder about military preparedness, I turn to the New Yorker.
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