Tis in ourselves that

We are thus or thus,

Our bodies are our gardens

To the which our wills are gardeners.

— Shakespeare, Othello

Our bodies are made up of many different organs, tissues, bones, cells, and hormones. Of course, let’s not forget water, which comprises about 70 per cent. Two very prominent hormones that many people keep on hearing about are oestrogen and testosterone, mainly because they are always mentioned in the field of sports, especially in the modern era when so much emphasis is placed on enhanced performance.

But just like how Shakespeare said that our bodies are our gardens and our wills are gardeners, there are some people who plant questionable seeds in their bodies and get dubious results.

Those two hormones, oestrogen and testosterone, occur naturally in our bodies and are responsible to a great degree for our sexuality. We all have both those hormones, but in different proportions, with males having more testosterone than females, and females having more oestrogen than males.

How we behave depends on the ratio of these hormones as testosterone-fuelled men are said to be more masculine in behaviour, aggressive, macho, while men with too much osetrogen are deemed to be feminine.

Conversely, women with an inordinate amount of testosterone do take on masculine characteristics. So, oestrogen vs testosterone, let’s see where that takes us, right after these responses to my spiel regarding ‘Bachelor life, spinster strife’.

Hi Tony,

In the old days movies would depict bachelors as playboys with means, going out to dinner and a show with a bevy of beauties on his arm. There would always be one woman who was his favourite, and he would eventually propose marriage, and she, of course, would accept it, a sort of riding off into the sunset. Spinsters, of course, would be shown as older women who are past their prime and never get married. There is no sunset to ride off into for them, but that’s just the movies.

Gary

Hello Teerob,

The eligible bachelor, but the poor desperate spinster. Do you see the double standard, as the man is considered a catch, but the woman not even a catch and release? Doomed to a life of being a wallflower. Where is the justice? Unfortunately, that’s just the way it is from time immemorial, and nothing will change.

Sheila

Those two hormones that determine our sexuality are of utmost importance as anything that has an impact on sex will always get our attention. Testosterone is the primary sex hormone and anabolic steroid in males. In humans, testosterone plays a key role in the development of male reproductive tissues, such as testes and prostate, as well as promoting sexual secondary characteristics, such as increased muscle and tissue mass and the growth of body hair.

Oestrogen is a category of sex hormones responsible for the development of and regulation of the female reproductive system and secondary sex characteristics.

So, basically, testosterone is male and oestrogen is female. But guess what? Even though some men may have the requisite level of testosterone in their bodies, they are so affected by the predominance of oestrogen that surrounds them that either they take on the characteristics of females or they lose their testes forever, figuratively speaking of course.

Take a young boy who is surrounded by and immersed in the company of females all his life, especially in his formative years. Even though he has the right amount of testosterone that should make him distinctly masculine, he acts feminine, effeminate, girly-girly.

I remember back in my first form high school days there was a boy who we nicknamed Sister because of his effeminate behaviour. We didn’t know about testosterone or oestrogen then, but we all knew that he acted like a girl, hence the moniker.

We subsequently found out that he was the only boy among six siblings, so naturally he acted like them. It’s sort of like a hormone osmosis, in which the greater hormone flows to a lesser one until it envelops the organism, in this case, Sister. Poor Sister, I wonder what became of him? Rumour has it that he got transferred to an all-girls school, but perhaps that was just typical cruel schoolboy humour.

This phenomenon can take on a serious twist if a grown man is subjected to and immersed too much in the company of females in his family. That’s when you get an oestrogen overload.

When a man lives with his wife, her sister, her mother, and four daughters, that little bit of testosterone that he has in his body is no match for that deluge of oestrogen that floods that environment, washes that household, saturates his mental and physical system.

For all intents and purposes he is outnumbered and eventually loses his testes, balls, cojones. There he is, a man, yes, but a man surrounded and overwhelmed by femininity. He has no say, no talk, and is browbeaten by the majority and eventually drowns in the quicksand of oestrogen from which there is no escape.

He doesn’t run the house, but runs around the house as the females run his life. He can’t make a move without approval and consultation.

“You going to the game?”

“I have to ask my wife.”

“You having a drink with us?”

“No, I have to pick up my daughter from dance class.”

“You playing ball with us?”

“Can’t, I have to take my mother-in-law to the supermarket.”

Oestrogen wins, testosterone loses.

Young girls who grow up with brothers may take on some male characteristics, but for some reason it’s not as egregious as that of the boys. In fact, some girls are better off for it and are referred to as tomboys who can take care of themselves. Testosterone wins here.

Of course, if it goes to the extreme and the girls absorb much more testosterone than is required for being a tomboy, then that girl becomes masculine, aggressive, may even grow facial hair, and is referred to as Man Marcia.

In the arena of sports, there are a few anomalies of nature, whereby some females have an over abundance of testosterone that occurs naturally, giving them the characteristics of males. I’m sure that you’ve watched sports meets and find it almost impossible to discern if an athlete is male or female.

“She’s listed in the female category for this event, but she sure looks like a man.”

True, it’s no fault of theirs, and nature can play cruel tricks on people, but that inordinate level of testosterone does give an unfair advantage when competing with females who have the normal proportion of oestrogen and testosterone.

A high level of oestrogen does not give men an unfair advantage when they compete, but a high level of testosterone does give females an advantage. That’s because, as stated, testosterone is like a booster, an anabolic steroid, a high-performance enhancer. It’s like spinach to Popeye.

I think that there should be a special category designated for those athletes who have that high level of testosterone. What’s bizarre is that there are some men who deem themselves to be female, even though they were born male. They infuse themselves with oestrogen and other stuff, assume a female persona and then want to compete as men. How come females don’t ingest testosterone and try to compete with men?

Thankfully the authorities have rejected that notion, but it just goes to show how far some people will go just to win a medal. Those two hormones, oestrogen and testosterone, basically determine who we are.

“Hormones are very powerful things, we are helpless in their wake.” — Meg Cabot.

“Hormones get no respect. We think of them as the elusive chemicals that make us a bit moody, but these magical little molecules do so much more.” — Susannah Cahalan.

“Hormones were as potent as whiskey and twice as sneaky.” — Linda Howard.

“Because of his hormones, he only has three emotions: crabby, hungry, horny.” — Sherry Argov.

“Our entire personality, our energy level and how we cope is hormonal.” — Sandra Tsing Loh.

It’s most interesting that these quotes about hormones all came from women. Is that why some people say that women are ruled by their hormones, making them have cyclical mood swings? Just asking for a friend.

Testosterone gives men more muscle mass, a deep voice, enhanced libido, while oestrogen gives women the feminine touch. Dabble with them at your own peril.

More time.

seido1yard@gmail.com

Footnote: Our beautiful Sunshine Girls netball team did us so proud as they went above and beyond the call of duty by placing second in the recently concluded Commonwealth Games, losing by only four goals to Australia in the final game. On their way to the finals they had defeated both Australia and New Zealand. The Sunshine Girls are our most successful team in all sports, having been ranked in the top four for many years, and even had a ranking of second at one time. Unfortunately the team has not benefited greatly from this success, unlike the other big teams, such as football. Coach Connie Francis is on the verge of resigning, which is a shame, for she has done a tremendous job. More support should be given to the girls.