The testosterone myth

Modern-day fascism manifested

With the emergence of fresh military conflicts and the potential end of American hegemony, an age-old concern regarding the strength of our nation has been brought to the front lines once again. This has provided the current Trump administration with ample reason to divert taxpayer money to fund a bloated defense budget. The Department of Defense has dropped its charade as an altruistic global peacemaker in its rebrand as the Department of War, further fueling the American culture war.

In response to this rising skepticism about America’s global dominance, the Department of War has pushed a simple solution: testosterone. Over the course of the last few months, the current administration has lauded the hormone for its ability to enhance combat skills and optimize warfighting in a one-size-fits-all remedy for “wokeism.”

This is best exemplified by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s recent rampage to eradicate military weakness. In July 2026, Hegseth announced a set of guidelines that mandated hormone screenings for male service members ages 30 and older. This policy is part of the Defense Department’s new interim guidance on an enhanced protocol aimed at optimizing “Warfighter readiness.” If service members are diagnosed with hormonal abnormalities, they will be recommended hormone replacement therapy to bring their testosterone levels within normal range. Yet, earlier this month, these medical guidelines were rescinded from the Defense Health Agency’s website in order to gather supporting research for this policy.

Though Hegseth insists the policy is not about artificial enhancement, he openly states the treatments are to optimize soldiers’ “natural capabilities.” Low testosterone levels have remained a pervasive matter of concern within military ranks due to the negative hormonal effects associated with high-stress and hard-labor environments. The effects of low testosterone can include symptoms like depression, irritability and loss of muscle mass. However, the actual percentage of servicemen diagnosed with medically low testosterone is significantly smaller than what the Department of War implies.

So, why the craze?

To Hegseth and men like him, testosterone is a panacea to the threatening feminization of public life — the integration of women in politics and the perceived unraveling of a patriarchal system. Testosterone has historically been viewed as the elixir of masculinity — believed to be synonymous with strength — a biological marker of favorable male behavior. Therefore, it’s no surprise that an administration run by a cabinet of aspiring strongmen would place outsized value on a hormone historically blamed for male violence and aggression.

When reports of the testing mandate first emerged, political pundits were quick to spew outdated myths about testosterone. Fox News host Jesse Watters joked that a concerted effort to raise testosterone levels in the military would inevitably spike rates of sexual violence against female soldiers and civilian women. However, the testosterone-addled rapist is a myth: the hormone does not incite violence; it’s simply been used as a scapegoat to excuse poor male behavior since its discovery.

Watters’ comments, while intended to be brazenly provocative, divulge the far-right’s objective in pushing this testosterone frenzy. Assigning credibility to these myths spreads dangerous misinformation that normalizes sexual violence as an immutable male function. These lies alienate women from the military in yet another insidious tactic to facilitate a return to the home.

The testosterone myth complements Hegseth’s beliefs on women and minorities. When President Donald Trump was elected to office for his second term, Hegseth denounced policies permitting gay soldiers to serve in the military and doubled down on his claim that female soldiers led to an “erosion in standards.”

Testosterone worship and the rejection of femininity are a self-enforcing cycle, promoting hypermasculine violence in the pursuit of American imperialism and nationalism. It also reflects the administration’s concerted effort to exclude women and sexual minorities from roles deemed unsuitable to reinforce regressive hierarchies.

A nation’s descent into fascism is illuminated by a disproportionate emphasis on an arbitrary masculine standard and the rejection of liberal values deemed feminine and weak. The fascist’s ideal man is physically strong and unflinching — a perfect tool through which the regime can enforce total civil obedience. Testosterone treatments, therefore, are advertised as the cure to rid America of its perceived internal weaknesses in pursuit of a nationalist military expansion. It’s a narrative that valorizes political violence and further eliminates women and sexual minorities from public life itself. By associating femininity and diversity with incompetence, the government and media manufacture public consent for a fascist regime to tighten its control over the masses.

Written by: Anjali Iyer — amiyer@ucdavis.edu

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