T: The Story of Testosterone, the Hormone that Dominates and Divides Us

May 10, 2021
Evolutionary biologist Hooven separates testosterone fact from fiction in her comprehensive debut. While testosterone is commonly viewed as “the essence of masculinity,” both men and women produce the hormone, Hooven writes, and learning about it can be “satisfying, empowering, and even fun.” She surveys how society has long manipulated traits influenced by testosterone, such as by castration, used on animals to control farmyard breeding and, historically, to keep male voices high for choirs. (More recently, she writes, the hormone has been used in dubious supplements intended to fight aging and increase sexual potency.) Hooven also explores testosterone’s effects on aggression, and her consideration of its impact on athletic performance is provocative: apart from age and health status, she writes, “only T draws such a clear and consistent line between large groups of people who differ in athletic ability.” The scope of Hooven’s research is impressive—she takes readers to high-tech labs and on a day of “chimping” in Uganda’s Kibale forest—and her writing is refreshingly free of jargon. The result is an approachable introduction to an often misunderstood aspect of human biology.

May 15, 2021
An exploration of the hormone that makes men do strange things while keeping the species going. "Testosterone is present in our blood in minute quantities," writes Hooven, co-director of undergraduate studies in the department of human evolutionary biology at Harvard. "Both sexes produce it, but men have ten to twenty times as much as women." She continues, "if the Y chromosome is the essence of maleness, then T is the essence of masculinity, at least in the popular mind." That popular-mind aspect plunges the author into timely and intriguing yet eminently debatable territory, as she's left to address such matters as biological determinism, the question of whether there are truly sex differences, and what role testosterone plays in sexual violence and aggressiveness of other kinds. Much of this boils down to the ancient question of nature vs. nurture, and Hooven walks a fine line between the two. Carefully, she notes how our now-well-developed scientific understanding of the biochemistry of testosterone does not mean that "we have to accept current levels of sexual assault, harassment, discrimination, or coercion." The author privileges definitions of sex while not giving much breathing room for contending notions of gender. Exploring the question of why the play of boys and girls is different, "it is a remarkable and unexplained coincidence that social forces have exactly reproduced the kinds of differences in play that would be predicted from endocrinology and evolution--in every human culture where they have been studied." As for the matter of how much testosterone figures into the appallingly high levels of violence in the U.S. and elsewhere, Hooven writes, "taking arrest rates as a rough proxy for the composition of offenders, men commit 80 to 85 percent of violent crimes in the United States." Then the author brings socialization into the picture to allow for circumstance, personality, and other non-T factors. In the end, "it's complicated." Moderately interesting popular science likely to excite academic debate on sex and gender.

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June 1, 2021
Hooven, a biological anthropologist at Harvard, deftly details the tremendous impact of testosterone (""T"") on ""our bodies, brains, and behavior in the service of reproduction."" She describes the influence of T on sex, dominance, and aggression. T generates masculine features and affects strength, muscle mass, height, and aerobic capacity. She explores T's connection with toxic masculinity and violence. At least 90% of all murders worldwide are performed by men. Although T is surprisingly an estrogen precursor, Hooven notes that ""testosterone pushes the psychology and behavior of the sexes apart"" in key ways. She discusses evolution, the biology of sports performance, and T's role in gender transitions. The complex interplay between genes, hormones, social environment, and experience makes us who we are. Skepticism and, at times, hostility regarding some significant effects of T have surfaced. But Hooven effectively counters erroneous or misleading assertions about testosterone, a hormone so culturally familiar to most of us that it's frequently designated by a single letter. Not even estrogen, insulin, or cortisol can claim such celebrity or its own monogram.

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July 1, 2021

In this era of open discussion of sexual violence, testosterone is facing public scrutiny. Hooven's (human evolutionary biology, Harvard Univ.) new book sets out to investigate whether male aggression can be definitively linked to testosterone, or if the social norms of patriarchal societies have more impact than biology. Hoover brings to this discourse her background in natural sciences and her studies in biological anthropology. She has written a thorough and interesting assessment of the science behind testosterone and human behavior; topics include biological determination of sex, effects of testosterone in athletes, and testosterone's use in gender-affirming treatment for some trans people. In addition to the science, Hooven provides cultural context, including personal narratives from people who have transitioned, as well as one person who has detransitioned; she lets people tell their stories in their own words, allowing for a more complete picture. Hooven encourages readers to approach this information through an evidence-based lens and to question their own judgments. Her insight into evolutionary biology and human behavior will be valuable not only to scientists but to anyone interested in social change. VERDICT A provocative, academic, accessible look at the science behind human behavior, suitable for those interested in natural and social sciences.--Cate Triola, Capella Univ., Minneapolis

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