21st century men are NOT the Men their fathers were.

Readership: All
Theme: Charisma and Chemistry
Author’s Note: This essay was written on 2022/5/24. Coauthored with Jack.
Length: 1,000 words
Reading Time: 6 minutes

Introduction

In Testosterone is MAGA (2023/8/18), I covered an article about how testosterone (T) affects political orientation.

Here are excerpts taken from two articles that discuss how T has been decreasing for decades. The cited research report [Travison, 2007] describes a substantial age-independent population-level decline in T in American men that is NOT attributable to observed changes in explanatory factors, including health and lifestyle characteristics such as smoking and obesity. The estimated population-level declines are greater in magnitude than the cross-sectional declines in T typically associated with age.

Generational Decline in Testosterone Levels

“During the past two decades, testosterone levels in American men have rapidly declined.”

“The interesting thing we discovered was that, on average, when we measured the testosterone in the blood of a 60-year-old in 1989 it was higher than that in a different 60-year-old measured in 1995,” said Thomas Travison, PhD, of the New England Research Institutes, Watertown, Mass.  “We observed the same phenomenon over a wide range of ages.”

“This population-level decline in testosterone concentrations in men is not explained fully by the usual suspects: increasing BMI and prevalence of obesity, certain other co-morbid conditions or decreasing incidence of smoking.

Healio: Generational decline in testosterone levels observed (2007/2/1)

The authors of the study attribute the low T endemic to birth cohort differences or to health or environmental effects not captured in observed data.

Jack’s pet theory is that stress [2], hormonal birth control [3], and possibly v@cc!nes may have a lingering effect that lowers T levels in developing male fetuses which has a longitudinal effect on their masculine development. So far, I’ve found one paper [Bhasin, 2007] that supports this theory.

img-1783682532-6a50d5e4e0b075.38186304.jpg

You’re not the man your father was!

Neil Howe, the man who coined the term “Millennial Generation” and is the author of over a dozen bestselling books, including Generations, The Fourth Turning, Millennials Rising, and The Graying of the Great Powers, commented on the above cited study [1] as follows.

“Across the population, men today have less testosterone compared to men of the same age a generation ago.  Asking why requires untangling a complex web of social, environmental, and behavioral factors that are dismantling age-old ideas about masculinity and triggering real anxiety over changing gender roles.”

Forbes (Neil Howe*): You’re not the man your father was (2017/10/2)

Howe’s verbiage indicates that he thinks the advances that Feminism has made over the past 50 years will keep on chugging.

“The confusion over what masculinity means today is reflected in the conflicted feelings of males now coming of age.  Most American Millennial men report feeling pressured to project a traditional image of manhood characterized by traits like toughness, self-reliance, and hypersexuality — but when asked if they wish to emulate these characteristics themselves, the majority don’t.  A separate survey asked men to rate themselves on a scale of “completely masculine” to “completely feminine.”  Only 30% of 18- to 29-year-olds chose “completely masculine.”  That’s compared to 65% of men over 65.”

Forbes (Neil Howe*): You’re not the man your father was (2017/10/2)

Are men really being pressured to project a traditional image of manhood anymore, or are they being taught to abandon those traits? It’s a combination of both. Men possess an inner desire for traditional manhood that is being shamed and contradicted by Feminist narratives that are taken to be the norm. This is why younger men are confused about whether they want to be masculine or not. Further clouding the issue is that men don’t know how to be masculine in a gynocentric culture that eradicates masculinity, and there’s a lot of fear about what being masculine would entail in the present social environment.

img-1783682534-6a50d5e6235149.94115851.jpgNeil Howe

“All these social and cultural changes have also left Millennial women in uncharted waters.  More face a dating pool where partners of equal education and status are harder to come by, leaving them waiting for men catch up or deciding to go it alone.  “They aren’t men,” one young woman told Philadelphia Magazine flatly.  “They’re boys.” It’s a sign of a long-term generational reversal: When Boomer women were coming of age, they wanted kinder, gentler men in touch with their feelings.  Now Millennial women yearn for guys who can “man up” and take care of business.”

Forbes (Neil Howe*): You’re not the man your father was (2017/10/2)

Whenever women say they want “a kinder, gentler man”, or yearn for “guys who can ‘man up’ and take care of business”, we are obliged to add, “…who is also hawt”. Also, Boomer women felt the pressure to marry and wanted a man they could control. Millennial women have a totally different SMP with no pressure to marry any man who isn’t hawt enough to make their bits drool.

“Ultimately, it’s impossible to pigeonhole what’s happening to masculinity as wholly positive or negative.  The strongest objections come from critics who believe men and women are naturally built for traditional roles — or from those who argue that toxic chemicals are wreaking havoc on men’s health.  Those who believe traditional gender roles are dysfunctional, however, welcome moving past them.  A less testosterone-laden world might be less aggressive and more emotionally expressive.  If there’s one thing on which observers agree, it’s the need for solutions to support the men the 21st-century economy is leaving behind.”

Forbes (Neil Howe*): You’re not the man your father was (2017/10/2)

References

  1. Travison, T.G., et al. “A population-level decline in serum testosterone levels in American men.” The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 92(1):196–202 (2007).
  2. Healio: Generational decline in testosterone levels observed (2007/2/1)
  3. Bhasin, S. Secular Decline in Male Reproductive Function: Is Manliness Threatened?, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 92(1):44–45 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2006-2438

Related