Estrogen Estrogen Everywhere

The Housewife asked about all the estrogen-causing things in the environment. Here’s a beginning list. The things contributing to this problem really are legion. Hormonal disruptors have become rampant, and it is the imbalance that causes the problems.

The evidence for the physical contributors is just beginning to come in, and has only begun to be studied:

In foods themselves, like dairy products (that we consume far too much of—milk, ice cream, cheeses, etc.). This could be heavy enough of itself, but now the foods themselves are often crammed with estrogen-spurring things as well. And many of our grains, like genetically modified wheat, barley, corn, etc., and the amount of those we consume, appear to be another big source. Another is soy. While funny commentators like to poke fun at soy for supposedly contributing to reduced phallus size, the relevant issue is its testosterone suppressing and estrogen building properties. Japanese housewives have known about this one for years. Some commentators say that soy is a significant contributor to the dysfunction often common between the sexes in Japan. Soy’s “opposite,” meat, otherwise a testosterone enhancer, is often reversed by what we have done to the meat in our modern, mass production. And many foods, if eaten in too high a concentration, contain enough natural substances that mimic estrogen that the body is thrown out of balance. And all the not very natural (or decidedly unnatural) things we ingest often have estrogen-fomenting properties: MSG and other food additives, trans fatty acids, high fructose corn syrup, refined sugar, concentrated caffeine, etc. Many of these effects appear to surface in the long-term, not the short-term.

In our water, which is often polluted with chemical/drug (including contraceptives, which are largely estrogen) traces from all the things we’ve thrown away that make it to our drinking water sources, we find more of this process. To this is added the ubiquitous effects of a petro-chemical society, whose products and by-products (including plastics, pesticides/herbicides people put on their lawns, not just commercially, and of course the liquid fossil fuels and their vapors and residues) often produce estrogen-advancing and testosterone-suppressing effects. Personal care products and cosmetics, paints, solvents, detergents, perfumes, air fresheners. It’s a drowning soup. The Romans may have had their lead, but we’ve got a lot more than that! Other things also contribute to decline in testosterone and rise in estrogen: continual stress, obesity, etc.

Could all this testosterone-suppressing be at least partial causative of the American decline in instances of aggressive male behavior, and the similar decline in male crime statistics, especially violent crimes?

The decline in testosterone levels in American males across all ages is well documented. A 2007 study took a shorter (20 year period) of examination, and showed nearly a 20% drop. An older, and continuing study (over 40 years so far), shows a steady decline. One result: erectile dysfunction, even in younger males, is on an (no pun intended) alarming rise.

One anthropologist has even remarked that modern men are the sorriest examples of male-dom that human society has ever produced.

Btw, all this estrogen advancing also often appears to have negative effects on females as well: menstrual difficulties, extreme hormonal problems, mammary difficulties and disorders of all types (and maybe cancer), fertility difficulties, etc. etc.

It DOES matter what we do to ourselves and our environment. It always has. Our refusing to believe it didn’t make it not so.

The Over-Feminizing of Males and Maleness

Prior to the last half of the last century, did American men need to get in touch with their feminine side? Probably. Certainly there was a long legacy of excessive yang energy, of unexamined aggression and arrogance, minimized cooperation, and other things too prevalent in Western civilization for hundreds of years.

Not so much anymore, socially for sure. At least for average males who are NOT wealthy.

It’s not just that the pendulum has swung too far: it’s brought with it an amnesiatic estrogen-laced mist. It’s bad enough all the estrogen producing and testosterone suppressing things in the environment, food and water, etc. But the cultural imposition only magnifies it to a thoroughly unreasonable extent. Case in point, as recently chronicled by Ellen Gray of the Philadelphia Inquirer:

“Teri Polo's character in ABC's "Man Up!" tells her husband after he complains that they 'need more hazelnut creamer’ and frets about how to communicate manhood to their 13-year-old son:

‘I'm sorry, honey, but your grandfather fought in World War II, your father fought in Vietnam, but you play video games and use pomegranate body wash.’"

Ouch. Touche. Inditement. Robert Bly and others in the back to men movement would only amplify this condemnation were they to speak at this point.

Even male comedians reinforce this social feminine dominance. Married men are routinely depicted as surrendering their wills to their wives on nearly everything. And that argument for change is pointless (and argument with the woman, futile).

Who the HELL said that was okay? Sure, we don’t need to return to a time of overwhelming male dominance. But we don’t need female dominance either. How about establishing some real balance, real social equality? And we sure don’t need this emasculatingly ABSURD idea that women can dictate to men what is PERMISSABLE, especially in the realm of maleness. “My wife/girlfriend LETS me do X. My wife/girlfriend won’t let me do THAT. My wife/girlfriend won’t let our son do X. My wife/girlfriend says it’s only okay to do Y.” On and on, ad nauseum. And so many men, an apparent majority, acquiesce, and start to lose their zest for life, to live someone else’s idea of their life, and not their own.

Having women DEFINE what is male is a bad idea. Emasculated men going along with it is even worse. The good points of nurturing and love we should keep—our children are probably better off for it. The excessive “rescue and protection” aspect that gets its spur from femaledom should be junked.

All that’s just a few minor things for starters. This is BIG.

This Day

We pause in our examination of the genders.

The historian in me finds it amusing to hear the words “never forget” and “forever” spoken about this day. Humans, with their pitifully brief life spans and even shorter memories, are so desperate to hold onto meaning, but it is elusive, and their mortality makes most all things momentary in time. Each generation fashions its own importance. The relatively distant past (and our fast paced culture makes “relatively” more appropriate than ever) recedes away, with us unwilling or unable to hang onto it (or, more accurately, it is drowned out by the avalanche of the new, or even essentially erased like a hard drive writing new material over the old).

We will forget the things we need to remember, and remember what we should maybe forget. And so keep making the same mistakes. Again. And again. And again…

It is possible for this pattern to be changed to a great degree, but so far, no indication! :)

Monks and Punks (Dysfunction of the Genders, Part 4)

I have some friends who call it (as Wesley Snipes did), their “monk stage.” That is, they are so turned off and disgusted by the same bad experience repeated with yet another [usually pretty—hmm, perhaps a pattern? :)] female, that they just stop dating for a while. Gender dysfunction. Others contribute to the problem by reacting in an understandable, but regrettable, fashion: they undertake a counteroffensive, and in the process, often change themselves for the worst. That is, they do to females what was done to them by females: lying, manipulation, cruelty, utter selfishness, etc. One of the problems with this, of course, is that blanket application is made, and no allowances made for the individual. In too many instances, they end up screwing things up with a female who is an exception to the pattern they have previously encountered. Gender dysfunction!

But as I said, sometimes it is important merely to remove yourself from the toxic relationship(s) in your life. After all, it is difficult, perhaps near-impossible, to attract good energy and good things into your life when evil, or at least negative energy, is impacting it constantly.

Sometimes that realization takes quite a while to sink into our love-delusioned skulls. Once it has, though, the realization is liberating! Now here, featured for the fourth straight week, is Theory of a Deadman, with “Drag Me to Hell” from their 2011 “The Truth Is…” CD:

“Remember those good times we had
I thought you were my friend
What I felt to be a dream
Just a nightmare in the end
I trusted you, you trusted me
Nothing could go wrong
Until I finally figured out
You were evil all along

What I gave to see you gone
I never felt this way before
I'd love to have seen that face you make
When I walked out the door

'Cause God can't save you from all your sins
You threw your life away, you let the devil in
Now I can't save you, I know you too well
Like everyone and everything you dragged, you dragged me to hell

Dragged me
Dragged me
Dragged me

Trapped inside these prison walls
With no way to escape
What I felt to be my life
Was just a big mistake
I thought of you, I thought it through
Everything was clear
The only way from this cage
Was for you to disappear

What it was to see you gone
I'm sure you've heard this all before
I'd love to have seen that face you make
When I walked out the door

'Cause God can't save you from all your sins
You threw your life away, you let the devil in
Oh I can't save you, I know you too well
Like everyone and everything, you dragged me, you dragged me to hell

Dragged me
Dragged me
Dragged me
You dragged me to hell

I hope you had fun
Now that we're done
It's over this time
I'm on to your lies
Get it through your head
Our love is dead
I don't think about you
No, I don't think about you anymore

'Cause God can't save you from all your sins
You threw your life away, you let the devil in
No, I can't save you, I know you too well
Like everyone and everything, you dragged me, you dragged me to hell

Dragged me
Dragged me
Dragged me
You dragged me to hell”