Woke or castrated?

In the fog of discussion about wokeness, identity, gender and diversity, there is a focus on demarcation, questioning or weakening masculinity. At the same time, the number and quality of sperm has been declining worldwide since 1950 to less than half, and testosterone is falling by one per cent per year. May there be a connection?

The male embryo is sensitive

Some of the causal factors for the dramatic decline in sperm and testosterone have always been present: stress, alcohol excesses and nicotine. And mobile phones and COVID vaccination, which have also been blamed, only came decades later. Although obesity and lack of exercise have increased, they do not appear to explain the drop in testosterone. 

On the other hand, findings in animals and humans as well as epidemiological data suggest an influence of chemicals that block or simulate hormone effects, substances known as endocrine disruptors. The most important of these are phthalates, the plasticisers that end up in food from plastic packaging, but which are also contained in cosmetics, shower gels and sun creams. They block testosterone.

The male embryo is highly sensitive to these substances: testicular development is disrupted and with it also testosterone and sperm production in later life (1). As a result, not only did sperm levels decrease to just under half of their original value, but where testosterone levels have been studied (Europe, Israel and the USA) they too are also on the decrease, by around 1 per cent per year or more. As this decrease in testosterone has also been documented over decades, it would not be far wrong to assume a total decrease in testosterone to around half. Measured in terms of these testicular products - sperm and testosterone - men are all subject to hemicastration (removal of one testicle).   

Testosterone and behaviour

Testosterone characterises the male body type. Sexual type behaviour is not just a social construct either, as boys even in the womb show earlier, more frequent and more violent puerperal movements than girls. And in later pregnancy testosterone shapes the typical male preference for ball games, cars and weapons over dolls. Testosterone also slows down language development in boys and after puberty it promotes muscle development, muscle strength, libido, potency, dominance, aggressiveness and territorial and risk-taking behaviour (4, 5).

The famous castrato Farinelli

Observations on male infants and young chimpanzees prove that endocrine disruptors actually change testosterone-driven sexual-typical behaviour: if they normally prefer to play with car toys rather than dolls, this is reversed under phthalates, and at the same time the language development of these boys accelerates in a similar way to that of girls (1).

Testosterone and society

One social effect of testosterone has been known for a long time: Young men have many more car accidents than young women, also in terms of kilometres driven - a consequence of testosterone-induced risk-taking behaviour. Hunting, territorial defence, murder, manslaughter and war have also been primarily the business of men, i.e. testosterone, since time immemorial. 

If we subject the male world to chemical castration across the board, to such an extent that half of masculinity has already been lost in terms of sperm and testosterone, this must have an impact on testosterone-dependent characteristics, both individually and collectively in society. Let's take a look: 

• If testosterone is declining, we should expect to see a decline in sexual interest: and indeed, we hear from many sources and countries of declining sexual interest, even asexuality. The doldrums in the bedroom are lamented and more and more people are living voluntarily or involuntarily without a partner. Lonely Japanese people make do with rented families, or even with life-size dolls that have a little artificial intelligence. And Japanese women marry themselves. The small amounts of testosterone produced by women are also essential for libido and sexual sensitivity - phthalates have been shown to interfere with both (1).  
• As testosterone decreases, the difference between boys and girls must become blurred; and indeed, whereas in my youth the world was clearly divided into boys and girls, today there is increasing confusion about gender roles and affiliation, with endless gender discussions, as well as an increase in gender dysphoria and gender reassignment. The Swiss Young Socialists have become a hetero-free zone, non-binary voices want recognition and representation, and Nemo wins the European Song Contest. Is not this exactly what we can expect when we expose our offspring to substances that weaken or distort the effect of sexual hormones? 
• When testosterone decreases, male potency decreases: And indeed, potency disorders are becoming more common today, even in younger age groups (1).
• Without testosterone, men tend to put on fat. In fact, there is a worldwide epidemic of obesity, to which a testosterone deficiency could contribute, at least in men. 
• Less testosterone would predict less risky behaviour and fewer traffic fatalities; and indeed, a dramatic decrease in traffic fatalities has been observed in recent decades, which may be linked not only to seat belts, speed limits, better roads and better cars, but also to falling testosterone levels. 
• Just as a reminder, low testosterone also reduces sperm count. 

So much for the obvious: but testosterone also has an effect on self-assertion, aggression and territorial behaviour. This can also be examined, at the risk of straying into politically incorrect territory and thought bans:  

• Testosterone supports self-assertion and assertiveness: if it's lacking, you avoid arguments, tuck tail and withdraw. And indeed, in the ‘cancel culture’, the chivalrous and highly interesting duty to confront an opposing point of view no longer applies - after all, you could learn, grow and, in the best case, even come to an agreement in the process... Yes, the woman's weapon is withdrawal of contact and love, but such refusal to talk is cowardly and unmanly behaviour. Might there be a lack of testosterone which would be necessary to endure a conflict? 
• Testosterone supports territorial behaviour and territorial defence in animals, and is sometimes even released during territorial fights. Its reduction would lead us to expect a reduction in such behaviour. In fact, since the seventies of the last century, in the Swiss army there has been the new observation of crying recruits who could not imagine shooting at anyone. Conscientious objectors increased, the Swiss popular initiative to abolish the army received 36 per cent support, and the newly introduced civilian service ushered in the post-heroic age. The USA and Switzerland are struggling to find soldiers for the army and the Interlaken Wilhelm Tell Games are being abolished. In view of the Third Reich, the Hungarian uprising and the Prague Spring, this seems nothing but naïve to our older generation, a view that can only be expressed in public again since the war in Ukraine. But remember: boys and chimpanzees exposed to testosterone blockers and phthalates, prefer to play with dolls (1).
• A lack of territorial control could also possibly explain the fact that Germany allowed hundreds of thousands of refugees to flow into the country from 2015 onwards without even making a serious attempt to check their identity and origin. Was this a shortcoming of testosterone-driven territorial behaviour? The question led to outrage with some journal editors, but it can certainly be asked. 
• And the fact that hundreds of migrants were able to harass hundreds of German girls and women on Cologne Cathedral Square in 2016 without the German men who were also present intervening could also point to a lack of self-assertion. In the Swiss poet Jeremias Gotthelf's time (1850), this would of course have resulted in a full-blown brawl. Was there perhaps a lack of the testosterone needed for adequate male protest?

Beyond testosterone

The anomalies go beyond sperm and testosterone effects: worldwide, girls' puberty is being brought forward, which increases the risk of breast cancer later on. Not only men, but also women are becoming less fertile. Breast cancer, which is becoming increasingly common, affects one in eight women, and endometriosis one in ten. Here too, epidemiology incriminates endocrine disruptors, this time those with oestrogen and progesterone activity, including certain phthalates and bisphenols, as well as pesticides and hair dyes.

Autism, behavioural disorders and perhaps ADHD also appear to be on the rise. In addition to air pollution, certain pesticides (organochlorines, organophosphates, pyrethroids), PCBs and again phthalates are incriminated.

Unsolved problem

Experts and professional organisations have been issuing warnings for years and calling for a switch to glass for food packaging (2), while the authorities pretend that direct evidence is lacking and that they have already taken sufficient and successful action (3). However, direct evidence will always be lacking because experiments on humans are not possible, and in view of the fact that sperm loss is progressing at a rate of 2 per cent per year, the problem clearly remains unsolved. 

Wokeness protects itself from self-knowledge

Scientific results can be cited for each of the above statements, often several and in agreement. Nothing has been invented, only facts have been compiled and then questions asked. As these questions are of general and public interest, I tried to publish an opinion piece about them in the Tages-Anzeiger and then in NZZ, Schweizerische Ärztezeitung or Infosperber. Everything was rejected, cancelled so to speak, in Infosperber even by majority vote of the editorial team. 

Although the Neue Zürcher Zeitung publishes gossipy articles about wokeness every week or month, it labelled my thoughts as ‘insufficiently substantiated’ (are they trying to cast doubt on the testosterone levels?). Infosperber even gave specific reasons for its rejection: Apparently they prefer to view gender roles as a social construct and not as a result of hormonal imprinting, which is in line with modern fashion, but not with the facts (4, 5). Secondly, people prefer to be lulled into the illusion that we humans are free and self-determined beings and not animals programmed by hormones. The questions on migration caused particular outrage, but they were only questions that could be asked and then answered one way or another. Only questions that are asked can be answered. In fact, aspects could be checked by simple, targeted investigation. And the more uncomfortable the results are, the more interesting they become. 

As a doctor and biologist, I look at people like a zoo keeper looks at his animals (in parliament I always felt like I was on a monkey rock): But how was this egain? Might we lack the testosterone needed to face up to an uncomfortable and politically incorrect discussion?... Don't look - down...      

Literature

1. Shanna Swan, Count Down, Scribner, 2021.
2. Microplastics and plasticisers end up in our food: should we therefore avoid plastic containers? Interview with Prof.M.Wilks, Neue Zürcher Zeitung from 24.1.2024:  
3. Factsheet on phthalates from the FOPH, May 2021: https://www.bag.admin.ch/dam/bag/de/dokumente/chem/themen-a-z/factsheet-phthalate.pdf.download.pdf/factsheet-phthalate_de.pdf
4. Annemarie Allemann-Tschopp: Gender roles - an attempt at an interdisciplinary synthesis, Hans Huber-Verlag 1979.
5. Carole Hooven: Testosterone, Octopus 2021 (ebook available for CHF 3.00)