I’ll begin this next
section with a quote from Dr. George Sheehan “Happiness is different from
pleasure. Happiness has something to do with struggling and enduring and
accomplishing.” It is clear that Dr. Sheehan did not differentiate between the
sexes. However, when it comes to hormones, testosterone is considered the male
sex hormone. It is produced in the testicles and secreted by the testes. It is
been estimated that women have testosterone levels 1/10 to 1/12 those of men.
This hormone is most pronounced during puberty and then gradually diminishes during
a man’s lifespan.
A few distinguishing characteristics of this hormone are as
follows: 1. Promotes libido, aggressiveness and sexual desire [A female Viagra
product designed to stimulate sexual desire, is now available]. 2. Promotes
protein anabolism-use of proteins to build muscle, skin and bone. Testosterone
production is affected by a number of external elements such as obesity,
exercise and lifestyle [smoking and excessive alcohol intake]. In other words,
a healthy college male is likely to be aggressive, has ability to build muscle
with strong sexual desire.
Recently, two females
graduated and have joined the elite Army Rangers. Wonder what their
testosterone levels are? When it comes to sports, world class women are great
competitors. What male would get in the ring with martial artist Ronda Rousey;
play tennis against Serena Williams;
kick a soccer ball at Hope Solo; play one-on-one basketball with Diana
Taurasi; race Missy Franklin in the 200 m backstroke ; get in the batter’s box
against Leah Crockett of the University Michigan; or race Meghan Arbogast in a
100 K trail run.
These women far exceed the majority of male competitors in
their specialty. As Sheehan said “Happiness has something to do with struggling
and enduring and accomplishing.” These women are physically and mentally tough.
This past June, Meghan, age 54, ran the Western states 100 mile trail run. Read
about her ordeal in detail, and you will conclude like me regarding her
unparalleled mental and physical toughness.
Last Sunday, the 16th, Tony and I ran a 20 mile
trail run in the Sierra Nevada’s [Run on the Sly]. As I ran up and down the
trail, I had an opportunity to observe the many women that overtook me. Many of
these young women were extremely fit and had great looking leg and calf
development. They were terrific. After the run, Tony and I went for our
favorite awards, even though we both placed in our age group, -which is ice cream. We talked about our run
and also about women who also go for ice cream after a tough event. Our event
was tough as the temperature reached triple digits. I’m going to ask world
class runner Meagan if she also goes for ice cream after her events for one of
her rewards.
Many years ago there were limited possibilities and less
opportunities for women in women’s sports. Back then Babe Zaharias was a freak
on the golf course. Now, I don’t know why a women’s T is closer to the hole
than the men. With changing values, coaching, training, nutrition, women are
achieving at unbelievable heights. I’m certain I could learn more about
basketball from coach Becky Hammon of the San Antonio Spurs and more about football
[Even though I played at the college level] from coach Jen Welter of the
Arizona Cardinals.
In 1969 there was a classic football battle between Michigan
and Ohio State. On the playing field were plenty of testosterone filled young
men with excessive libido, aggressiveness and of course sexual desire. However,
when it comes to winning and losing much can be said about conditioning,
coaching, and coaching player- staff preparation. Legend, Woody Hayes’s was the
head coach for the Ohio State Buckeyes. His protégé was none other than Bo
Schembechler. Schebechler previously
coached for the Buckeye head coach. Bo Schembechler also had Gary Moeller as a
member of his coaching staff. Gary Moeller was a team Captain for Woody Hayes
when OSU were ranked number one in the early 60s.
Yes, Bo and Gary learned from Woody. Would their coaching
skill be enough to win against the undefeated number one ranked team in the
country, at the time? No one measured testosterone levels that cold Saturday,
in Ann Arbor, nor assessed the mental toughness of either team’s players. Yet,
the young Michigan players [Many of whom played in the NFL, were all pro, and
even inducted into the Hall of Fame] described that victory like none other.
Their motivation was out of this world and raised to unheralded heights by the
clever coaching of Bo Schembechler and his talented staff. Among these players,
they mentioned that the experience on that Saturday was never again duplicated
in their lives. I don’t know if that band of brother’s experience was similar
for the women in team sports. Perhaps, testosterone had a lot to do with it-the
physicality, camaraderie, the overcoming, and the winning.
When it comes to sports, yes, the top males clearly dominate
at the world-class levels. The muscular development, aggressiveness, and gross
motor ability enter into this male equation. Women are now achieving at
impressive levels due in part to their opportunities. Still, we continue to differentiate
with male versus female leagues at this time.
However, when it comes to psychology and mental illness, we
don’t have one exclusive diagnoses for females and another for males. The same and I mean the same criteria is used
for diagnosis. That doesn’t mean that the numbers of males and females are
equal in all the diagnostic categories. Yes, more women are depressed,
depending upon the age than men. And, more men have an antisocial behavior
disorders than women. And yes, more women have a hysterical style personality;
and even Neo-Freudian Karen Horney had a book published called Feminine
Psychology. Yes, there are psychological differences between the sexes. But in
studying psychology, the definition covers behavior, cognition and emotions
regardless of orientation. The major personality theories [Behaviorism is one
of them] do not differentiate between the sexes. Humanist psychologist Albert
Maslow’s idea of self-actualization includes both males and females. Sigmund
Freud, Carl Jung, Kurt Lewin, Gordon Allport, Carl Rogers and others do not
discriminate. It’s called personality theory as opposed to Male Personality
Theory. A human being is not an atom and can’t be split.
The study of man in the Stony Brook program sounds
interesting. When the good professor asked the students to describe a good man,
their responses were feminine based. They described characteristics of a woman.
When he asked them to describe a real man, their responses were more
testosterone and stereotypically based. As a psychologist, I appreciate the
hormonal, genetic, brain, environmental and social variables or influences when
talking about men and when talking about women. That’s more interesting for me.
In conclusion, Erich Fromm stated “Man’s main task in life is to give birth to
himself, to become what he potentially is” states very accurately that we are
the same animal with the same task. And each of us have the responsibility
figure out what that is. He didn’t discriminate between the sexes, nor will I.
Go Blue!
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