chat @hexbear.net TankieTanuki [he/him] @hexbear.net 3 mo. ago

Do you ever think it's weird that we commonly refer to "estrogen" as the opposite/analog to "testosterone" instead of "estradiol"?

Estrogen isn't a molecule. It's a class of feminizing hormones, the most prominent of which is estradiol. Others include estrone and estriol. Collectively, these are called estrogens.

The masculinizing analog for estrogen is androgen (a word you practically never hear*), which also refers to a class of hormones. In addition to being the most well-known of the androgens, testosterone might be the most famous hormone in the whole body**. Dihydrotestosterone is actually the most potent androgen. Androsterone and Androstenedione are (relatively weak) others.

*e.g. It's such an androgen fest!

**Adrenaline is the only competitor that comes to mind.

This moment of pedantry was brought to you by TankieTanuki. the-more-you-know

29 comments

Bro we have rules about what side your shirt has to button up depending on how your genitals look, none of it makes any fucking sense
- What??
  
  I work in a lab type area with lab coats. The button thing is so ingrained that women during training will frequently get confused with the lab coats because they have the masculine button arrangement.
  
  [in the west] Despite the fact that the vast majority of all humans are right-handed, only men's shirts have buttons on the right side. Women's shirts have buttons on the left side.
  
  Yeah men’s buttons are on the right side, women’s are on the left.
  
  In the long ago women’s clothes were very complicated so (rich) women would have servants help dress them, so the buttons on women’s clothes are meant for a second person to button them.
  
  Vs men’s clothes even kings would dress themselves because it was easy, so the weird things we have are like, the bottom button on suit jackets that is never supposed to be buttoned bc some king wasn’t able to button his jacket
  
  actually figured this was sth all trans people knew cause at one point half my shirts were on one side and the other half on the other side lmfao
  
  It's the same with belts in my experience. Men wear buckles pointing to the right and women to the left. (Requisite GENERALLY here. I'm obviously not going around getting up close and personal to peoples' waists).
  
  Yes. 99.9% sure I wore girl jeans when I was first homeless. The pockets were kind of nice though still not like "man" pockets though. But they buttoned opposite and or had the metal tab that slid into the "cover up the gibblets" (very technical stuff here) staple. Have no idea what happened to them at this point. Was probably not thrilled about it at the time (because I was 18 and so far in the closet and wanted to take my time coming out plus I like to just not show up on any radar. ) but really liked the fit though.
Ever think it's weird that the class of female sex hormones is named after a biological process that doesn't actually occur in humans

Humans don't go into heat with an estrous cycle, they have a menstrual cycle
- TIL
  
  That reminds me of the word "vitamin". It's short for "vital amines", because scientists believed that they were all amines (nitrogen-containing organic molecules). They are not.
  
  Hydrogen is called that because it was thought to specifically come from water
- I mean one of the important proteins for embryos to develop symmetry is named after sonic the hedgehog
- Chemistry is my area of expertise.
*e.g. It's such an androgen fest!

I wish we used that instead just for the pun of calling muscle-heads "androids"
- Gymbro when high:
  
  Paranoid android
I don't think it's weird because we live in a capitalist patriarchal gender binary authoritarian hell world where man and woman are elemental particle antiparticle pairs
- we live in a capitalist patriarchal gender binary authoritarian hell world where man and woman are elemental particle antiparticle pairs
  
  that's maybe the perfect description of why binarity is nonsense in gender. great example.
  
  Thanks!
Most people don't do biochem and do vibe based everything at best.
"Estradiol" doesn't roll off the tongue quite as nice
- Maybe. But neither does testosterone.
  
  It's not so bad if you know the pronunciation: Ess---truhh---DIE---all
Androsterone and Androstenedione

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