If women’s estrogen levels were declining by one percent yearly and now were 30 percent lower than a few decades ago, it would be a major story. Yet while a corresponding phenomenon is manifesting itself with men and testosterone, the media aren’t just ignoring it — they’re treating it as a joke.
In fact, they’re mocking commentator Tucker Carlson for creating a docuseries on the matter.
The phenomenon is nothing new, either. As Reuters reported in 2007 already:
A new study has found a “substantial” drop in U.S. men’s testosterone levels since the 1980s, but the reasons for the decline remain unclear. This trend also does not appear to be related to age.
The average levels of the male hormone dropped by 1 percent a year, Dr. Thomas Travison and colleagues from the New England Research Institutes in Watertown, Massachusetts, found. This means that, for example, a 65-year-old man in 2002 would have testosterone levels 15 percent lower than those of a 65-year-old in 1987. This also means that a greater proportion of men in 2002 would have had below-normal testosterone levels than in 1987.
A study in Denmark registered similar findings, showing that “those born in the 1960s have on average 14 percent lower testosterone levels than males from the 1920s,” wrote IceNews in 2010.
More recently, Forbes covered this issue in a 2017 piece titled “You’re Not The Man Your Father Was.” Coinciding with the low-T phenomenon is that rates “of certain reproductive disorders (like testicular cancer) have risen over time, while multiple European studies have found that sperm counts are sinking,” the site writes.
“These trends coincide with a decline in musculoskeletal strength among young men: In a 2016 study, the average 20- to 34-year-old man could apply 98 pounds of force with a right-handed grip, down from 117 pounds by a man of the same age in 1985,” Forbes continues. “Though grip strength isn’t necessarily a proxy for overall fitness, it’s a strong predictor of future mortality.”
So this issue is real and quite striking in its severity. Yet readers wouldn’t know it from mainstream media coverage of Carlson’s series. The AFP, for example, mentioned that the commentator had become the laughingstock of Twitter. The site then cynically wrote that in “the trailer for ‘The End of Men,’ Carlson worries about ‘the total collapse of testosterone levels in American men,’ which he says is ‘a huge story that no one covers.’”
British newspaper The Guardian wrote that it’s “no surprise to see Fox News suggest that the answer to all of mankind’s problems are testosterone related,” even though Fox doesn’t. “The channel is heavily invested in the idea that a decrease in testosterone is making men more liberal and less masculine, and many of its remaining advertisers sell pills that promise to increase men’s testosterone’s levels,” the paper continues.
MSNBC did at least acknowledge, later in its article on the subject, that declining testosterone levels were a problem. It also wrote, however, that this “isn’t the first time Carlson has brazenly exploited men’s insecurities about the loss of their dominance at the hands of feminism and social progress,” even though that doesn’t at all appear the series’ focus. MSNBC also used the report as an opportunity to push the climate-change agenda, criticizing Carlson for not supporting it and claiming that “rising temperatures” were perhaps responsible for declining T (because, of course, all problems not caused by white supremacy are due to global warming).
This was the more mature criticism, too. The less so mentioned the series’ alleged “homoeroticism,” with the AFP relating, “‘You could literally just change the voiceover and make this an ad for Grindr,’ the gay hook-up site, commented one Democratic activist.” Yet this is perhaps not surprising since, many observers note, leftists ever do engage in projection.
In fairness, the series’ trailer (video below), which Carlson played on his nightly show this week, could be seen as a tad melodramatic. In particular, critics have seized upon its portrayal of “red light therapy,” which involves a sort of “tanning” of the male genitalia. Yet trailers are meant to be teasers, as even with the purest motivations — the spreading of Truth — there’s no point creating a docuseries unless you can induce people to watch it.
The media response to “The End of Men” is reminiscent of their reaction to President Trump’s endorsement of hydroxychloroquine. In both cases, liberals either pooh-poohed or demonized something simply because a figure they despise associated himself with it. Reflecting this, just consider a recent tweet (below) sent by liberal neocon Bill Kristol.
This phenomenon is, at least in part, a result of society’s — and in particular, leftists’ — failure to recognize the objective. As people begin to believe “Man is the measure of all things,” as Greek philosopher Protagoras put it, their thinking changes. Then, for example, just as they’ll move toward having a nation of men and not laws, they’ll make issues about men and not facts — about the messenger, not the message.
As for those scoffing at “The End of Men” in particular, this also reflects a misandrist spirit. As one commenter put it, speaking for many, under this YouTube video, “Less testosterone in the world sounds like a good idea.”
And perhaps this tips the Left’s hand. Despite what The Guardian wrote, maybe leftists really do suspect that declining testosterone makes men more liberal and breeds soy boys. For sure is that “Vitamin T” does seem to make leftists very, very uncomfortable.
For those interested in more information about this health phenomenon, the video below examines some of its possible causes.
