Elephants are so much like people.
I first met the word “musth” several weeks ago, when I was confined to a room in the Johns Hopkins Hospital emergency ward and compelled to binge-watch episodes of Naked and Afraid.
It refers to a state that comes on a male elephant from time to time, that is a counterpart to “heat” in a female. His testosterone soars, he has a strong desire to mate; he becomes highly aggressive, and prone to misbehave. Among human beings, we would call that last one “crime.”
The presence of older males in a herd encourages the younger ones to watch their manners.
During musth, an oily fluid flows from certain glands in the male elephant’s temples (cheeks), glands we human beings do not have.
It’s a potentially fascinating topic. But rather than copy every interesting passage from the article at Wikipedia, let me just link to it, and you can read for yourself.
From the 1960s to the present and continuing, the politically correct have sought stridently to erase all differences between male and female human beings. The dogma of the 1970s was that visitors from another planet would be unable to tell men and women apart. In researching the “feminist critique of science” a few months back, I came across a woman who decried a certain text about reproduction because it said sperm are motile and eggs are not. Are female fireflies motile in courtship? Are the female gametes of plants motile?
StereotypesMasculineFemininerational competitive build hierarchiesempathetic cooperative build networks
In the 1980s, the dogma changed. It now posited that differences between men and women do exist, but it was essential to celebrate traits relatively more typical of women, and demonize traits relatively more typical of men.
Currently, I expect certain controversies —
Will persons with the XY karyotype, such as male-to-female transgendered people, be allowed to compete in sports against people whose karyotype is XX?
Did Megan Rapinoe correctly say, “You can’t win a championship without gays on your team. It’s never been done before. Ever. That’s science right there.”
— and information that till now has not been discussed openly —
Hormone levels in masculine-presenting and feminine-presenting persons
The use of anabolic steroids by female bodybuilders and some lesbians
— to effect the complete destruction of the pertinent PC dogma.
Men and women are simply not equipped to all excel equally in the same endeavors. Differences between them are to be accepted, not condemned.
Political correctness is all about denial of What Is.
Related: Value judgments: Feminists doing science? Related: Sense of direction Related: Men have Viagra. What do women have for low libido? Here’s what experts say. Testosterone boosts libido both in women and in men.
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