Dear Dirty America

Matt Marshall makes a list about why your grandfather’s testosterone levels were probably higher than yours are now:

Strength and performance coach Charles Poloquin believes high levels of plastics can lower testosterone levels. Apparently people who drink out of plastic bottles a lot have high plastic level readings and lower testosterone levels. True or not, we know our grandfathers didn’t drink out of plastic bottles all day long.

Does testosterone make the man? Natasha Mitchell writes:

It’s a debate that’s been waged in scientific and social circles for decades. Some have attributed high levels of testosterone to criminal tendencies whilst others call it the hormone of desire.

Amidst the excitement, what’s emerging is that it’s difficult to box our hormones so succinctly according to gender. Despite popular belief, testosterone is a many-gendered hormone. It belongs in the hormonal kitbags of both men and women, and can play a role in the well-being of us all….male, female…or anywhere in between. Nevertheless testosterone should perhaps be best known as the “value-laden hormone”, caught in a confusing web of social expectations and gender stereotypes.