Gabor Szendi:
The mortal Male
Evolution regards male as consumable and his function is reproduction, especially success reproduction. From this can be understood the features, diseases and short life of male.
It is true that in all countries of the world males have lower life expectancy than women. In Hungary in 2015, men lived an average of 72 years, while women lived for 78 years. Is it because men work more, or are more unhealthy? This assumption is ruled out by the fact that the difference is still present in nuns and monks living the same lifestyle. What is more, this principle applies to the animal world as well: for most mammals and birds, females live longer. So this is not a social phenomenon, but a biological principle. If we are searching for the definitive difference between men and women, we will end up at the sex hormones, which from birth determine the gender and development of the body, the immune system and the brain, all characteristic to gender. Testimony to this is that medieval Korean eunuchs lived nearly 20 years longer than their contemporary counterparts in similar economic circumstances. A closer example is that of male mental patients in the first half of the 20th century who, having been castrated due to aggressive behavior, on average lived 13.5 years longer.
We might think it would be good to know how testosterone 'kills' so that maybe this deadly 'side effect' could be prevented. But constant selection, competition and failure are integral parts of a man's existence.
Male's vulnerability was already 'enveloped' when he was formed. At the time of sexual reproduction, an SRY sequence appeared on the X (female) chromosome, which, if it was present between the fetal chromosomes (i.e. XXSRY), the offspring became male. Later, this chromosome specialized further to form the Y chromosome. There are two variants of each chromosome in sexually reproducing animals, including humans. Female's sex chromosome is XX, male's is XY. And that's where the trouble begins. If one of the X chromosomes is defective, usually the other one is there. It is very unlikely that exactly the same segments are damaged in both X chromosomes. In addition, when the female body produces its egg, the X chromosomes swap sections, so the X chromosome can correct its defects. Not like the Y chromosome, which is 'lonely', never meeting another Y chromosome, so the injury, and damage it suffers is carried within forever. As a result, over millions of years, only 50-70 of the original 1000-1500 genes have survived on the on the Y chromosome, meaning that in 10 million years, there will be theoretically no Y chromosome. Of course, it doesn't take that much time, it only takes one important gene to be damaged. Indeed, 10-15% of men are already infertile for these reasons. Another sign of the male gender's 'weakness' is the rapid decline in testosterone levels in men during the 20th century, and the average sperm count has reduced to by three fifths.
Fetal life and the first years of life
The male sex is poorly endowed by nature, as evidenced by the fact that at birth there are 100 girls to every 106 boys, while at the beginning, that is, when a female egg is fertilized, there are 100 girl fetuses to every 150-170 male fetuses. So one third of the male fetuses are lost, for various reasons. The reason for the greatest loss of boys lies in the male development processes. Originally, all fetuses start as female, and if the proper hormonal intervention does not occur, even though the sex of the fetus is genetically male, the body becomes female. Turning from 'a girl into a boy' is a complicated multi-step process that can fail at any stage. This explains not only the great loss, but also that among those who are born, homosexuality, bisexuality, transvestitism, and other variations of gender identity and orientation is relatively common. From the initial headcount difference, it is obvious that nature has 'calculated' it, as the ultimate goal is to have an equal number of men and women entering the age of childbearing. This is no longer the case today, as ubiquitous hormone-like compounds are increasingly interfering with the delicate process of male conversion. As a result, 10-20% of the growing male population is lost, from the point of view of reproduction.
The life expectation of a born male is not so bright either. They are more likely to have severe cerebral hemorrhages, various dangerous infantile infections, and developmental disorders.
There are many more problems with boys in early childhood and in school. Autism is four times more common in boys than in girls, and Asperger's syndrome is even ten times more common. Speech disorders, dyslexia, dysgraphia, stuttering, attention deficit disorder, hyperactivity, etcetera, are also typical problems of boys. But why is nature hurting men with these difficulties? The reason is again a part of the process of converting from 'a girl into a boy'. During fetal life, male sex hormones (such as testosterone) slow down the development of the left hemisphere of the brain and stimulate the right hemisphere, as male-specific spatial orientation, or impulsivity, is a characteristic right hemisphere function. And if this slowdown is too 'good', the left hemisphere's attention, speech, reading, and calculus areas will develop more slowly, and may eventually remain underdeveloped.
Men's immune system
It is not easy to understand why is it better for evolution that testosterone partially suppresses the immune system, because what could its benefit be? Even though, it is as clear as day that there must be a reason for this in evolution, since for many millions of years if this strangeness had been a reproductive disadvantage, it would have long ago been deleted. The logic of evolution goes something like this: a strong immune system is a costly thing, so let it be for women, because they also need to raise their newborn children. Men on the other hand focus their energies on the struggle for successful reproduction, with their evolutionary goal mostly being in fertilizing women. (Of course to understand evolution we must always think about ancient times, not about modern male, who by the way is a product of the Stone Age). The higher the testosterone level of a male animal, the more parasites can live in it and the easier it will die because of an infection - but as long as it is alive it will be the alpha male and it will reproduce successfully.
For a male, all the things that are an advantage in courting (height, masculine face and physique, bodily strength, social dominance, pushiness, etcetera) are the effect of testosterone. Testosterone levels are the highest in the 20-40 age range, so men most easily fall victim to infections during this time. The graph below shows the mortality curves for male and female Spanish flu in 1918.
(Source: Noymer and Garenne, 2000)
It can be seen that many more men died, most in their 'golden age' in their thirties. Men are more susceptible to most infectious diseases.
The same is true in the case of cancerous diseases. With the exception of sex hormone-dependent cancers, men mostly 'lead' in most types of cancer, resulting in more deaths in men than women.
But of course, there is some refined logic to this 'weakness'. Successfully breeding men with high testosterone levels also compete on who is killed by the pestilence or by the Spanish flu, and who, despite their high testosterone levels, still has a strong immune system and survives. The offspring inherit both properties - high testosterone levels and a resistant immune system - and this is the goal. Every disadvantage caused by testosterone is actually aimed at male selection: who can endure even this?
In this spirit, men's injuries heal more slowly. It has been directly shown that this is dependent on testosterone levels: the higher they are, the slower wounds heal. The opposite is also true: treating a wound with an estrogen-containing cream will accelerate healing. It's as if evolution is saying: If you can't protect yourself, you should perish.
The young male syndrome
It is well-known that in every animal species, males fight, engaging in ritual duels for the right of breeding, while females spectate and wait for 'Prince Charming', the most able man who most deserves them. In this scenario, the rule is that the always female chooses, since she most often carries and breeds the offspring, that is to say, she risks more by reproducing. Males assist in 'parenting' only in species where youngsters could not grow up without them.
Of course, rivalry and making an impression can also be observed in the human race. When boys start adolescence, they tend to do dangerous things, get involved in extreme behavior, brawl, or try to best each other in drinking, and doing drugs. Conflicts with the law are also common at this age. Not only do boys want to impress girls, but being the coolest raises status even in the hierarchy of boys. Courage, risk-taking, heroism, fighting knowledge, power displays, and readiness to self-sacrifice are all male attributes that women value highly. At this age, many young men are seriously injured or killed in road accidents, dangerous sports, or in fights. Of course, one can argue that dangerous sports are also practiced by women. Yet men in the same sports are much more likely to be involved in accidents because they risk much more.
A study found that the more people in the car, that is, the larger the audience, the more dangerously a man drives. (Above 30 most men are old enough to know better and they drive more cautiously, the more passengers they have). The testosterone effect is also proven according to a study, in which even priests die six times more often in car crashes than nuns. This is not because priests drive more, because such analyses take the time spent driving into account for both genders.
Murders can also be traced to young men's twitchiness, and having a chip on their shoulder: it can be shown that most murderers are 20-40-year old lonely men, and most victims fall into this category as well. So from an evolutionary point of view, rivals kill off each other. In contrast, women rarely commit murder and female murderers have no typical age.
James Dean was a legend in his life and became a mythical hero in his death. It was as if he was playing himself in the movie Rebel Without a Cause. Dean's personality was a perfect fit for roles in which the unhappy, restless young man rebels against everything. This restlessness had an inner cause: the anxious impatience to start living seriously. For the evolutionary psychologist, Dean is a great example of the young man syndrome; not just for his roles, but for his short, hurried life, that blurred into them. His motto was, "Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today". It's as if the big hit song of the age "Live fast, love hard, die young" was written about him. Because of the intensity of his short life, it seems to have been longer than 24 years. From the salary for his first feature film first he bought a sports bike, then a sports car, and finally landed up with a Porsche 550 Spyder. The attraction was danger and speed, and he started racing as well as filming. He wanted to live dangerously, and likewise died at the age of 24: he was rushing to a car race when he suffered a car accident and died. The product of the last two years of his life is three feature films, numerous car races, and one fatal car accident.
Suicide
In the 15-29 age group, four times more men than women end their lives voluntarily. Of course, psychiatry always tries to make untreated depression the cause of suicide. But that doesn't explain anything, because then the question is what makes a man depressed. The evolutionary goal of man is reproduction, and if he feels he has been pushed off the reproduction ladder, he can feel that his life is meaningless. Therefore suicide is most often committed by lonely men. That is, those who cannot get to know other people, do not have partners, or have had an ugly breakup. Evolutionary motives are experienced by humans in the form of great emotions. 'Living for the moment' can be observed in the young man syndrome, which is also called 'ignoring the future'. Suicide because of love is completely illogical to an outsider, as 'there are many other women'. But in his disappointment, the man's mind narrows to only the present, he feels like everything is over, and his life has become useless in an evolutionary sense because his reproduction attempts have been rejected. In this respect, it is not surprising that widowed or divorced young people are most likely to commit suicide, followed only by those who have been living alone. The former two groups have lost the already 'acquired' partner, a tragedy even greater than loneliness. After all, the lonely man can still hope to find someone for himself.
So, we can conclude that the vulnerability and volatility of a man is his inseparable attribute, it belongs to his being which is in fact a manifestation of the continuous evolutionary selection. After all, evolution is not something that has happened, a thing of the past, it is part of our every day, and determines the course of our lives.
References
Noymer, A; Garenne, M: The 1918 influenza epidemic's effects on sex differentials in mortality in the United States.. Popul Dev Rev. 2000;26(3):565-81.
Szendi G: The Decline and Fall of Men. Jaffa, Budapest, 2016.