[Psycho_Bunny]

When I wrote that, I failed to properly restrict it to "adult" males. Adult males actually produce a small amount of estradiol. 2mg per day has little effect on males who are producing testosterone at a normal level. It's 4mg, coupled with a androgen inhibitor like spironolactone, where damage starts to be done. Spironolactone is the drug of last resort for males who have skin allergies to testosterone: hormone-based cystic acne.

The effect of synthetic female hormones on a male embryo is, from what I understand, far more dramatic. But I can't speak to that with any authority as I'm not a biologist. There seems to be general agreement that if synthetic female homones get in the womb at just the wrong time, it can distort the gender identity centers of the brain.

[Mrs. Don-o]

"There seems to be general agreement that if synthetic female homones get in the womb at just the wrong time, it can distort the gender identity centers of the brain."

That's what concerns me. Paradoxically, masculinity is a strong but fragile condition. On a lot of levels-- cultural, social, psychological, as well as hormonal, physiological --- masculinity is an attainment, not just an endowment or given. Consider the axioms, "Gender builds on nature" and "Culture builds on nature": if the "natural" substrate is weakened, there's a lot at risk. In fact, for human society, everything is at risk.

A significant subset of the opinion-leaders of our culture is so hostile both to masculinity and to fertility, many of them see the loss of both as a win-win. At least to the extent that they react to this as a joke or a dubious propaganda ploy by "the Vatican" and not as a real threat.

Masculinity is not replaceable by some kind of souped-up gender-flex femininity; and for the sake of my sons and everybody's sons, this kind of stuff alarms me.