Women unfairly get stigmatized for the natural hormonal changes that the human body undergoes as the days pass. The next time you think a woman is being "hormonal" or is "PMSing," stop yourself, because there are some quite powerful hormone cycles in men too. And, when is anyone not being hormonal? Do you feel hungry, tired, or horny, for instance? All are expressions of hormonal changes in the body. Hormone fluctuation is essential to human life.
If you are interested in learning more about the hormones that run our bodies. I recommend learning about melotonin and cortisol, for the circadian rhythm, sleep, and stress, leptin and ghrelin, for hunger, as well as insulin and glucagon, if you have ever been interested in diabetes. In this article, I will focus on hormones related to sexual behavior in males.
In popular thought, estrogen is the chemical associated with the female body, while testosterone is associated with the male body. While the relative amounts of these hormones relate directly to secondary sexual characteristics that present in a person, men and women both have the two chemicals in their body.
You cannot have a woman without testosterone and a man without estrogen.
The Daily Testosterone Cycle
So let's start with the Big T, testosterone. Did you know that men undergo a 24-hour testosterone cycle? Yes, every single day, men undergo hormonal changes throughout the day that effect mood and behavior.
Testosterone causes men to feel more aggressive, sexually-minded, and confident. These changes contribute to behaviors that have historically caused men to pursue mates for reproduction. In the body, testosterone directly relates to sperm production (sexual function) and secondary male sexual characteristics like facial hair and a higher percentage of muscle as part of body mass. These effects cause changes in metabolism as well, so testosterone is also related to male energy levels.
What you should know is that, on a daily basis, testosterone peaks in the morning and hits a low at night time. SO, men are generally more irritable, horny, confrontational, and energetic in the morning, while more calm, relaxed, asexual, and cooperative at night.
But, sex usually happens at night, right? How does that work if men are supposed to be less sexual then? Well, this objection, is a great example of how hormonal changes only effect proclivity or tendency for certain behaviors and how cultural stereotypes (like when sex should occur) can also affect behavior. Men in general have high testosterone levels even with the natural fluctuations that occur. Also, humans are special in that we have a broad capacity to reinterpret and redirect the feelings our body sends us. So, hormonal effects are of a more probabilistic nature and a loose rule rather than an obvious fact. This daily testosterone cycle also occurs in women, so, yes, they are, on base, hornier too in the morning.
Keep this probabilistic nature in mind for trying to explain someone's behavior based on hormones alone. This is another reason why judging a woman's behavior as hormonal is equally unfair. You really do not know what another person is feeling and their body is doing, so never make assumptions, especially with hormonal cycles that occur longer and more slowly than just a day.
The Lifetime Testosterone Cycle
Testosterone levels also vary throughout a person's life as well. Hitting highs with puberty, testosterone levels drop with age. This change is why, as men age, they tend to lose muscle mass and become less sexually motivated, for instance. Unlike female hormonal changes with age, men never lose their ability to cause a pregnancy.
Testosterone, the Environment, and Sexual Activity
Testosterone levels can also vary according to what is happening around a person and to them. Scientists have measured short term (hours to days) increases in testosterone levels when a person exercises, views pornography, potential sexual partners, and sexual content, assumes a dominant role in social settings, practices aggressive body language, and when fighting occurs.
Scientists have also done studies on how sexual activity causes fluctuations in testosterone levels. While sexual intercourse generally raises testosterone levels and studies on masturbation have shown T-levels often peak seven days after masturbation, testosterone, like most hormones, never acts alone.
So, certain activities do cause changes in hormone levels and, thus, changes in one's tendency to act a certain way throughout the entire day.
The stereotype is that men become more lethargic, sleepy, and asexual after orgasm, not more aggressive and sexual. Why is this?
Prolactin and Orgasm
One hormone that affects men after orgasm is prolactin, Yes, this is the same hormone that regulates breastfeeding in women - hormones often wear many hats!
Prolactin levels are shown to peak following orgasm and scientists believe this contributes to the refractory period, or the "no more sex for at least a few minutes feeling" and exhaustion after orgasm. Scientists give this hypothesis because hyperprolactinemia, or high prolactin levels, across many animal species, including humans, is directly correlated with reduced libido and gonadal function.
Oxytocin is also a major player in the satisfied feeling after sex and is believed to also cause the symptoms of the refractory period. I will talk more about Oxytocin in my follow up article on Biochemical Relationships!
All the Above
Other chemicals affect male behavior besides testosterone, but hopefully you are starting to see that estrogen is no more a potent chemical than testosterone is and men are just as "hormonal" as women.
Other ways to better understand human behavior and activity involve studying hormones like cortisol and adrenaline as well as the neurochemicals like serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine.
The big take away though is that men can just as easily be defined by their hormones as women regardless of whether this is fair or correct. Be consistent in how to view and treat others. If you want to risk the assumption of knowing someone else's hormonal state and how they uniquely handle it, than be prepared to see your own behavior and be defined in the same way.
IF you assume your girlfriend is being emotional and irritable because of the natural cycling of hormones in her body, be prepared for her to say you are just HTSing, high-testosterone-syndroming, the next time you try to initiate sex....putting people in boxes and using heuristics may be commonplace, but they always involve a sacrifice of greater understanding and often are thinly veiled ways to take responsibility for being a better person off of yourself.
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