Maggie Fox, Health and Science reporter for that bastion of news reporting, Reuters, had this little expose’ on the brain-damaging effects of too much testosterone. It seems she decided to do an itty bitty story on how too much testosterone can make you blind, er, brain-dead (well, kind of). She referenced a study by a team of researchers from Yale University and lead by (wouldn’t you know) a female senior researcher, Barbara Ehrlich.
“Tests on brain cells in lab dishes showed that while a little of the male hormone is good, too much of it causes cells to self-destruct in a process similar to that seen in brain illnesses such as Alzheimer's.”But it seems rats weren’t enough. It seems the ladies had to go and cross the line:
"Next time a muscle-bound guy in a sports car cuts you off on the highway, don't get mad -- just take a deep breath and realize that it might not be his fault," Ehrlich said in a statement.What a patronizing, sexist statement. Now it’s my turn (and I’ll try to be a bit more polite).
Have you ever been on the road at the hours between 3PM and 4 PM and seen a woman on a cell phone, sipping a latte, driving an SUV like a bat out of hell as she rushes to pick up her kids from school? It makes us 'muscle-bound guys' look like fairies! Never, ever, pretend such a woman gives a damn about anyone else on the road. Just stay out of her way. It seems womens’ amygdala are in epileptiform tetany at this time of day. Please, Dr. Ehrlich, don’t be too quick to judge male driving habits.
And what about the effects of too little testosterone? What might happen to us guys? Well, we might have to stop and ask DIRECTIONS!
Do us all a favor, Ms. Fox and Dr. Ehrlich, stick with your rats.
--Wes
4 comments:
Come on Dr. Wes, be a good sport...Yes, it was extremely racist of her to say that. But, standing up for my sex, we have been told by the male population for decades, that everything we do must be influenced by "PMS" or "that time of month", or all the other phrases they have used to describe it.
Really not much difference in what she said as compared to what we have been told for years.
I don't much care for either sides taking that stance.
Make that "sexist"...geez
I don't much care for either sides taking that stance.
Cathy-
I couldn't agree more. Sexist comments don't belong in scientific inquiry.
Your reference to the latte-sipping female in an SUV was hardly sexist. Beware the little woman/big truck combination!
I witnessed the phenomenon for years while doing a 90-mile (one way!) commute in LA and now see it repeated here in North Texas. It is the only real bad-driver constant I can identify between the two environments, and there appears to be a strong inverse correlation between aggressiveness and the size of the female SUV driver. I attribute it to the 'synthetic testosterone effect' of empowerment that comes from driving a big SUV. They're just not used to that powerful feeling. Such women need to realize that the 'rush' they get from wheeling a rampaging 6000 pound killing machine through space and time at freeway velocities can kill you just as fast as letting natural testosterone override your best instincts. The closest male corrolary would be the young male/big truck combination, for the same reasons.
As to Cathy's comment concerning PMS,etc: Yeah, that annoys my wife as well. Then she always tells me two, maybe three days later I was right.
We are ALL walking, talking 'chemistry sets' - albeit with somwhat different ingredients.
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