Male Menopause

Not so many years ago, male menopause was not understood or recognised. It would be just the brunt of a joke when referring to a man. Who had gone out and bought a new sports car or had just got a new girlfriend half his age. It was generally referred to, and to some extent still is, the “Midlife Crisis”.

This article is not to look at the medical side of the problem as I am not a medical professional. I am however a middle-aged man. So this article on male menopause is to highlight some contributory issues. In my view, are being exacerbated by our new “inclusive and diverse” western society.

Research and Understanding

Some UK stats that are shocking Men aged 40-54 have the highest suicide rate in the UK and account for a quarter of all suicide deaths. In 2019, there were almost 5,700 deaths by suicide registered in England and Wales – 76% by men and 24% by men aged 40-54. Equivalent data from Scotland records 833 probable suicides registered in 2019 – 74% by men and 31% by men aged 40-54. Since 2001, the most common method of suicide in men (hanging, strangulation and suffocation) has risen from accounting for 41% to 62% of all male suicide deaths in England and Wales.

Very little research, information campaigns or help is out there looking at the silent killer in men, that is, male menopause. A simple search on google as to how much money is being spent globally on women’s menopause comes up with a figure of $24.4 billion. The same search on male menopause spend comes up with zero. Honestly, it looks like the medical community is split as if the condition exists at all.

The list goes on

We know that as men get older that their testosterone levels fall away. This can lead to sexual problems, fatigue, depression, and weakness. Also, testosterone is one of nature’s greatest fat strippers. So another side effect of reducing levels is the middle age spread or “pot belly”.

So, let’s add this to the issues the modern middle-aged man is dealing with.

He is not performing as well as he used to in bed. Watching himself getting fatter and may not feel great about his looks anymore. Due to the weight gain maybe feels that his partner doesn’t see him as attractive anymore.

Failure

A sense of failure is another issue thrown at the middle-aged man. In the current climate, a heterosexual man in his 50s will find it incredibly hard to move to a new job, let alone start a new career. This is in part due to how he fits into the diverse and inclusive list. Companies now are so hell-bent on showing the world how well they are doing in the “DE&I” statistics that they actively place people into roles that they hope they will learn instead of putting people in positions who do know what they are doing. As I have said previously, meritocracy is dead.

The new generation hitting senior management and director level, lovingly referred to as “Snowflakes”, are happy to remind middle-aged men that the state of the universe is their fault and we should be ashamed of ourselves.

Some modern women in this generation rebuke and report any aspects of chivalry or gentlemanly behaviour and accuse all men of being rapists, misogynists and wife-beaters. This same group also campaigns to educate young boys to understand that they are nothing but rapists, misogynists, and wife-beaters in training.

Men are from Mars

Men in the “middle age” bracket come from a different world, and we struggle to understand this new “Cancel Culture”. Your life will be full of mistakes, and most of us learn from them. Our society has been built on learning from past mistakes so we can become better. The modern generation is now happy to call mistakes “challenges”. Go around ripping down status, outlawing names and banning songs because it does not fit with apparent modern attitudes. If they erase and delete past mistakes, how will future generations learn from them?

Big Brother

In the liberal west, we now live in a society where your past is scrutinised. The law governs your current behaviour concerning what you can do. What you can say publicly and even between your friends and colleagues. You are videoed and recorded on a daily basis by the state or anyone with a smartphone. The latest is what you “think” disguised as “unconscious bias”.

With the above in mind and reading this. Most of you may believe the west is a shining light of liberal democracy. Read this definition of totalitarianism.

What is totalitarianism? Totalitarianism is a form of government that attempts to assert total control over the lives of its citizens. It is characterised by the strong central rule. That attempts to control and direct all aspects of individual life through coercion and repression. It does not permit individual freedom.

So, looking at the description and reading a little more about it. I am convinced this is where the “liberal west” is heading.

In 1949 George Orwell published 1984. A dystopian novella initially thought to be based on the big brother attitudes of Russia or the USSR as it was them. There is new talk that the book was not based on the USSR but on what Orwell saw as the way the liberal west was heading towards. It was made into a film starring John Hurt and is, in my opinion, almost verbatim as to what we are currently heading towards.

Pause for thought

Male menopause may not be completely down to a decline in testosterone, I agree. But it is an incredibly serious problem. Men are killing themselves because of this, and there is very little research or money being spent to help. Yes, I agree it would help if men would talk more about their feelings. But this is another area that needs to be tackled more.

As a final thought. Is the lack of education, research and money around male menopause due to a lack of understanding, lack of belief? Or is it a deliberate way the cancel generation can rid themselves of the last remaining sanity. Living in this fake shining light of the liberal west?