Milicent Cranor 08/17/26 (WhoWhatWhy.org)
The secretary of war puts the T in toxic masculinity.
Last month, Pete Hegseth, US secretary of war — and I do mean war — further polluted the air already fouled with misinformation: He amplified the false impression circulated by the online manosphere that high testosterone levels make one a better fighter.
This seems to have led many civilian men to seek out sources — legitimate or not — to get this manly hormone into their systems, whether they need it or not. (And if they don’t need it, they may suffer the dreadful effects of its abuse — such as testicle shrinkage!)
As you probably know, Hegseth demanded that all soldiers over the age of 30 have their testosterone levels tested. And look at the language he used:
He wants a “High-T Department of War.”
He wants soldiers on the “leading edge of lethality.”
And if a “warfighter’s” testosterone is found to be deficient, he has the “option” of getting hormone replacement therapy. (Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gets such therapy, and he is definitely lethal, though not as a soldier. His decisions on vaccines have resulted in untold death and misery.)
Since our soldiers in the Middle East do their killing not by hand-to-hand combat but by operating lethal machinery — the role of “High T” in modern warfare is not clear to me.
Possibly Hegseth believes a man with high testosterone will be not only physically, but psychologically fit; that is, he should have the right lethal attitude. Kill! Kill! Kill!
Ironically, some of the most lethal, most murderous leaders in history — men who ordered others to kill — apparently had low levels of testosterone themselves. There is some truth in this British World War II song, at least as it applies to Hitler:
Hitler! He only had one ball,
Göring had two but they were very small,
Himmler had something sim’ler
But Herr Goebbels had no balls at all.
Adolf Hitler apparently did have only one ball — although the cause of his condition is still being debated.
And then there’s Napoleon, another killer. He had a condition known as “micropenis.” His doctor surreptitiously removed the organ during his autopsy and, ever since, it has been passed around, unpreserved, in a small presentation box, to various collectors.
The organ has been described as a “shriveled eel” and “a bit of beef jerky.” Of course in its dried out state, it wouldn’t look its best, but indications are, his equipment was abnormally small.
And there’s other evidence Napoleon’s testosterone levels may have been beneath Hegseth’s standards. According to Napoleon’s doctor, François Antommarchi, after stepping out of his bath, the Emperor said to him (translations vary):
“See Doctor, what lovely arms, what smooth white skin without a single hair! What rounded breasts — any beauty would be proud of a bosom like mine.”
In addition to Hitler and Napoleon, there are droll stories about lethal contemporary characters — men you can’t avoid reading about every day — men whose names I shall not mention.
These stories describe in detail what some would characterize as “embarrassing inadequacies” (not necessarily hormone related), that could be especially triggering to an appearance-obsessed, malignant narcissist. You can guess who they are. Google is gagging over the inquiries.
But what these unmentioned men — with their unmentionable private issues — truly lack is a conscience. And to a degree that is grotesque. Their actions have resulted in countless deaths and ruined lives.
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I wonder what Hegseth’s own testosterone levels are.
And I wonder if he knows how much alcohol diminishes one’s testosterone levels.
A doctor once told me about all the drunks he’d seen down in the Bowery who had full heads of hair — owing to low levels of testosterone thanks to booze. According to the peer-reviewed medical journal Andrology, which reported the results of multiple analyses involving 10,199 men:
“The meta-analysis showed that alcohol consumption overall is related to significant reduction in circulating concentrations of total testosterone.”
(Note to the technically inclined: Men and women both have testosterone and estrogen, but in different proportions. In a man, low testosterone results in “unopposed estrogen,” which in turn results in nice head hair, but low body hair. On the other hand, if a woman is very low in estrogen, she has “unopposed testosterone” and may have sparse head hair, but a full mustache.)
Pete Hegseth certainly has plenty of hair on his head that is probably his own — and for decades, apparently, he’s had plenty of alcohol in his system.
Whistleblowers from the Concerned Veterans for America (CVA), led by Hegseth until 2016, alleged that he was repeatedly drunk while performing official duties. More recently (December 3, 2024), NBC News published this story, based on interviews with 10 current and former Fox employees: “Pete Hegseth’s Drinking Worried Colleagues at Fox News.” And Hegseth’s former sister-in-law alleged in an affidavit that Hegseth was frequently drunk, during which time he abused his wife.
Hegseth denies these stories. Of course he does. Just as he denied texting overly specific war plans on Signal. (Go here for choice details.)
In any case, it sounds like he’s had more than a drink or two.
Besides alcohol, recreational drugs like heroin and cocaine affect testosterone levels, which may explain why former drug user Kennedy needs hormone replacement therapy. (He also needs brain replacement therapy, but none is available.)
But there is something far more dangerous to your masculinity and, indeed, to the entire human race and other forms of life on this planet. Namely, petroleum, aka oil.
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Sooner or later, in one form or another, oil seeps into everything in our lives.
It seeps into nearly everything around us — in the form of tiny bits of plastic — which are made from fossil fuels.
Microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs), which are even smaller, abound in the air, the soil, the water, our food, and not just from the plastic packaging. MPs have been found in the animals we eat (fish muscle, for example) and in the fibers of fruits and vegetables.
And MP/NPs are in nearly every organ of your body. They are in your brain (7 grams in the frontal cortex, where you do your thinking), in your retinas, in your blood vessels, your heart, liver, and so on. And in your reproductive equipment, male and female.
In this story, I am focusing on males because, according to our secretary of war, males need their testosterone in order to be on the “leading edge of lethality.”
NPs have been found in human semen, in human testicles (and in the testicles of dogs, studied because their lives are deeply intertwined with ours), and in human penises. To see more proof of the danger, go here, here, and here.)
The drop in sperm count in developed countries began approximately 50 years ago. The subject is controversial, and different causes are cited, but I can’t help noticing that 50 years ago happens to be about the same time we started using really humongous amounts of plastics.
And plastics seem to be here to stay. The world is shifting toward renewable power, and to offset declining fuel sales, major oil and gas companies are turning to plastics as “Plan B.” According to the Center for International Environmental Law, “Just as the world begins to realize the dangers of plastic pollution and take action to reduce it, industry is poised to invest billions in expanding plastic production.”
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In the meantime, though infested with plastic, we should all try to take good care of ourselves.
Men, if you suspect you have abnormally low testosterone levels — or if you’re an accomplished hypochondriac — you can view this long list of symptoms presented by the Mayo Clinic — but bear in mind that many of these same symptoms are caused by psychological factors. Better to discuss the issue with a urologist.
Here are some good, up-to-date articles on the safety of testosterone therapy:
Is Testosterone Therapy Safe? Take a Breath Before You Take the Plunge
Statement on Testosterone Replacement Therapy
Management of Adverse Effects in Testosterone Therapy
What Men Should Know About Testicular Shrinkage and Testosterone Therapy
Trump, Kennedy, et al. want to make it easier to get prescriptions for testosterone. Given what these people say about vaccines, you should be cautious about accepting anything they say about anything else.
Your lifestyle can greatly affect your hormone levels (as well as everything else) — high stress, inadequate sleep, poor nutrition, lack of exercise, and, as previously mentioned, drugs and alcohol. You’ve heard it all before.
Avoid this book: Manhood: The Masculine Virtues America Needs, by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), who believes “No menace to this nation is greater than the collapse of American manhood, the collapse of masculine strength.”
Avoid using red laser therapy on your groin. See this story in Vanity Fair: “Tucker Carlson: Tan Your Balls If You Want to Be a Real Man.”
- Milicent CranorMilicent Cranor is a senior editor at WhoWhatWhy. She has worked as a creative editor at E.P. Dutton, a comedy ghostwriter, and editor of consequential legal and scientific documents. She has also co-authored numerous peer-reviewed articles for medical journals.