Men Are Hormonal

A Chemical Imbalance.

Men are hormonal. Their emotions, their thoughts and behaviors are under the influence of a reason-blunting and dangerous chemical. Although these statements are provocative, I do not make them solely to provoke. I do not present them to be contrarian. I put forward these assertions because they are the clear, unalloyed reality. This chemical will be referred to in this essay as the booyah hormone.

The booyah hormone, sometimes called testosterone, is a large part of the cause of stupid, animalistic and aggressive behavior found in males. Some statistics:

In the United States, in cases where the culprit was identified, 90.3% of murderers are men.

Not surprisingly, nearly 99% of the perpetrators of rape are men. For aggravated assault, the figure is 83%. Sources.

The booyah hormone produces the booyah culture so that the upbringing and peer pressure unite to produce a synergy of toxicity. Throughout history, this toxic mixture has caused men to parade off into ridiculous wars. Examples include The War of Jenkins Ear (25,000 dead), The Football War (3,000 dead), and The Pastry War (100 dead). Many of these ridiculous conflicts received their ignoble titles decades later. Perhaps a hundred years from now, the Grenada Invasion will be referred to as "The Nutmeg War" and the Second Iraqi War will be called "Mission Conceited."

It is a general truth that irrational people view other people as irrational. Victors do not write history: they shout it—or, leastways, they shout their version. This is echoed in matters of sexual politics. A prevailing strain of thought among the victors, men, says that women are the more unreasonable sex. At the same time male aggression is accepted as a virtue and its costs discounted.

The case for men being irrational has as its evidence the sum of human affairs. The booyah hormone does not only produce senseless behavior but, through aggression, it is a means to power. Because of this, men are overwhelmingly in charge of the world and have been so throughout recorded history. The chaos and cruelty of the world is reflective of male-dominated policies. Listen closely to the news and you will hear the screeching and chest-pounding of the male primate.

But, wait a moment, isn't there an equal case to be made for the absurdity of all humans? Yes, exactly that: equality. Women are also hormonal.

Estrogen and progesterone levels cycle and, in some, this can cause a volatility in moods. While the booyah hormone is filling prisons, the female is said to be fickle or touchy—as though the latter pair of traits were the more flagrant of sins. Estrogen has been linked to anxiety and depression. Men often direct their emotional irrationality outwards while women often direct the same inwards and the behavioral effects are secondary.

Aggression has a variety of shades: several of these are virtues. The aggressive person can be bold and dynamic, enterprising and achieving. The negative values of aggression can be tempered by looking inward.

In contrast, it is the sexist nature of language that has female traits relinquished to a ghetto of negative terms. Non-aggression is called indecisiveness even when hesitancy is well-reasoned. Fickleness describes an erratic change of mind, even though changing one's mind can be the height of sensibility. When Sonia Sotomayor went through hearings to be confirmed as Supreme Court justice there was a wave of hysteria over the concern that she might show empathy.

But isn't this thesis diminishing both women and men by pigeonholing them? In this sense, I am merely being provocative. Women can be aggressive and men fickle. Neither sex is limited by their hormonal influences and both sexes have an equal capacity to overcome their chemical masters.

 Martin Hill Ortiz, also writing under the name, Martin Hill, is the author of A Predatory Mind. His latest mystery, Never Kill A Friend, is available from Ransom Note Press. His epic poem, Two Mistakes, recently won second place in the Margaret Reid/Tom Howard Poetry Competition. He can be contacted at mdhillortiz@gmail.com.