Male Hormones and Politics

My son pointed something out to me the other day that had never occurred to me before, but rang true. He said, "The liberals at school, the ones who have long hair and wear Che Guevara t-shirts, are always the wimpiest guys." There does seem to be a correlation between hormones and politics. Guys who stick up for their own race do seem likely to have more testosterone.

After my son's comment, I thought of the guys I've known personally from both sides of the aisle and then sorted them by (at least the superficial appearance of) masculinity, and found a near perfect correlation. Guys of any race who stick up for their own are more likely to be muscular, belligerent, and aggressive, with typically male personalities. Think of the guys you've known whom you've thought of as hyper-androgenized (as opposed to androgynous): did any of them have a political viewpoint which favored others over their own group?

This isn't true of just whites. The blacks who most aggressively demand special privileges and reparations -- think Jesse Jackson, or the Fruit of Islam, or the Black Panthers and all their spiritual descendants -- don't seem to be lacking in male hormones. Blacks who make fun of their own, on the other hand -- think Chris Rock, or Dave Chapelle -- tend to be skinny, even scrawny guys who are less bellicose by nature.

The primaries this year gave us some great examples of each type. Let's make the obvious assumption that among whites, those who stick up for their own tend to lean Republican, and those who don't, Democrat. Look at the contestants in the Republican primary: Fred Thompson, the former actor and basketball star. Mitt Romney, who bears a slight resemblance to Clark Kent. John McCain, former top gun who stuck by his fellow POWs while in captivity. Rudy Giulani, not a physical specimen but a tough former DA with a weakness for the ladies. Mike Huckabee, a big guy who recently ran a marathon. Ron Paul, former state champ at track. Duncan Hunter, the square-jawed former Army Ranger who servied with the 173rd Airborne and participated in 24 helicopter assaults. And Tom Tancredo.

Now let's look at the Democratic field: Hillary Clinton. Chris Dodd. John Edwards. Joe Biden. And Dennis Kucinich. Enough said. (I'm guessing Hillary ranked highest in testosterone.) The other two Democrats, Barack Obama and Bill Richardson, who is Hispanic, fall into a different category: by being Democrats, they are essentially sticking up for their own.

Think of it another way. You're a freshman in college and you've been assigned two roommates, both white. One is a burly football player who loves hunting and ATVing. He likes to drink and has been known to get into fights. The other is a 143 pounder who smokes pot, has lots of friends who are women (who truly are just friends), and looks down on athletes as "Neanderthals." Which one is the Democrat?

Yes, there are exceptions to both rules. But by and large the stereotypes hold.