Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “wants a manly military,” said Tom Bartlett in The Atlantic, even if it requires artificial enhancement. In his latest “tougher than thou” social media video, Hegseth recently announced that every service member over 30 will undergo annual mandatory testosterone checks; anyone deemed deficient will be given the option to receive hormone replacement therapy. Testosterone shots, he assured service members, are about “restoring and optimizing your natural capabilities.” But universal testosterone screening “is not considered standard practice,” especially for men under 50, and it appears even more pointless for the military’s 230,000-plus female service members, who will also be tested. Further, there’s no evidence testosterone injections — a favorite of the online “manosphere” —will keep troops “on the leading edge of lethality,” as Hegseth claims. It’s just more macho posturing.
As a urologist, I have been seeing a lot of patient interest in testosterone testing, said Jamin Brahmbhatt in CNN.com. The curiosity is valid: Low testosterone can be a warning sign of a deeper issue, such as obesity, heavy drinking, lack of sleep, or high levels of stress. But how and when to intervene “is the harder question.” Testosterone levels “fluctuate constantly,” with a wide “normal” range, and only those who are “truly low and symptomatic” are prescribed testosterone replacement therapy, which can modestly improve energy, strength, and physical function. But artificial testosterone shuts down the body’s own production and can result in infertility, blood clots, high blood pressure, and, “over time, shrinking testicles.” Hegseth’s “cringeworthy” obsession with manhood is not about science, said Amanda Marcotte in Salon. It’s about the “deep well of insecurity” found in so many MAGA men—and their fear of femininity. Hegseth’s insistence that soldiers need high-T “sends an unmistakable message: that women are categorically unable to serve as ‘warfighters.’” Given how disastrously the Iran war is going, maybe it’s also compensation for “his own impotence in the job.”
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