A Man Shortage?

Jackson Free Press

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

No, this isn't some desperate rant about finding a mate. I'm talking about a bonafide, honest-to-God decrease in male births.

Since 1970, the number of male births has dropped: from 100 for every 104 female births, to 87 per 100 baby girls.
What does that do to the dating pool? Well, let's just say that the picky divas among us may need to shorten their criteria list.
If you're wondering why there's been such a drastic change, you should know this: we have no one to blame but ourselves. It turns out that many man-made pollutants mimic the estrogen hormone, which lowers the odds of having boys.
For example, we pollute our streams with pesticides, solvents plastics and PCBs. And like metalloestrogens like arsenic and mercury are in our soil and our air. Not to mention some of the food we eat.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, ahead[sic] count of children born after a July 1976 industrial accident near Sevesoto, Italy born to couples who had been exposed to large amounts of dioxin is a perfect case in point: In the first eight years after the accident, 12 daughters—and no sons—were born to another nine couples who had more than 100 parts per trillion (ppt) of dioxin in blood samples taken at the time of the accident. Additionally, among another four couples whose dioxin concentrations were below 100 ppt, the male-female ratio approached normal.
Another study, conducted in 2004 in four areas in the Russian Arctic, shows a disconcerting 2.5:1 ratio of female to male births in women who had more than four micrograms of PCB per liter of blood.
And in a study of 90 Canadian communities, a frightening female-to-male ratio of 54:46 is attributed to all the oil refining and metal smelting taking place nearby.
To top it off, male fetuses are more frail: stillbirths and miscarriages happen in disproportionately greater numbers to boys, having risen from just over half to nearly two-thirds between 1972 and 1999.

The article also has links to the Natural Resources Defense Council's Web site and the presidential candidates' stances regarding the environment.

Previous Comments

ID: 119630
Comment: Sounds like some well-intended and empathetic fellas will have to take on extra jobs. Work this necessary shouldn't go undone. The health and sanity and survival of the human race hang in the balance. Thanks for the wake up call.
Author: Walt
Date: 2008-05-01T09:19:27-06:00

ID: 119632
Comment: I've also never known women to be understanding about issues like that, Walt. Good luck with that. ;)
Author: Ironghost
Date: 2008-05-01T09:46:43-06:00

ID: 119634
Comment: They will have to grow up or go without. Similarly, I ask are they going to listen to God's commandment and go ye therefore and multiply or are they going to keep trying to boss poor dumb Adam as they have in the past. As I see it, it them against the world and the future of the world and mankind trumps any jealous or selfish motives they possess. So it is written and so it shall be.
Author: Walt
Date: 2008-05-01T10:00:39-06:00

ID: 119641
Comment: And, so it has been written that, "A womyn needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle." Womyn marry each other now and adopt, or find another method. Good luck with your concept Walt.
Author: willdufauve
Date: 2008-05-01T10:35:09-06:00

ID: 119643
Comment: Ah, Walt, you dreamer, you. Check out "Dr. Strangelove" for a similar plan. I just watched the movie again recently. It's still relevant, which is a shame. But back to the issue: This is yet another warning written in big red crayon about what humans are doing to the planet. And yet another reason to go organic in food, containers, clothing, etc. wherever and whenever we can, and re-using/recycling to get this crap out of the environment. Another effect of all of this pseudo-estrogen is little girls, 7, 8 and 9, reaching puberty years before they should. That's just wrong.
Author: Ronni_Mott
Date: 2008-05-01T10:51:59-06:00

ID: 119645
Comment: It's not my concept Will, for I'm a mere messenger too glad to carry the good news. Choose ye this day who ye will follow! For me I'll follow the LAWD!
Author: Walt
Date: 2008-05-01T10:53:34-06:00

ID: 119662
Comment: I think Ronni M has this one covered Walt. My nubian goddess and I are moving to Jackson in a few weeks, one of us got a gig with one of the local colleges, but right now we're still in Massachusetts where we have legal gay marriage and the womyns can march to their own LAWD. I know more lesbian married couples than I do male/female married couples. That's one of the things I'm most proud of in Mass. We have gay marriage and our first African-American governor, Deval Patrick, was the first Mass. governor to march in the Boston Gay Pride Day parade.
Author: willdufauve
Date: 2008-05-01T14:33:22-06:00

ID: 119666
Comment: Interesting comments. :-) I have a philosophical question for you: If male births continue to decline, how would you feel if the government legalized polygamy? Let's say there was a three-woman limit. Would you participate? If polygamy was legalized, would that be a good argument to legalize polyandry too?
Author: LatashaWillis
Date: 2008-05-01T15:47:45-06:00

ID: 119668
Comment: I AM IN...now my wife has to be...polyandry...yeah i googled that...HELL NO...dont need no other man cutting in my cakes...he need to get his own...its enough right??? I got a wife...now i need veteran...like 35+...then well go out and get us a good "team player" LW got any plans later...just wondering...saw the st paddys pix and uh...ya know... LMAO
Author: skipp
Date: 2008-05-01T15:59:10-06:00

ID: 119670
Comment: Polygamy is good for the country. Three is too few though. If the government is going to make grants it should grant enough. Let say between 10-20. Polyandry is evil. We have no room for it in America. What kind of country do you think we are? My God, we're God-fearing Americans.
Author: Walt
Date: 2008-05-01T16:25:44-06:00

ID: 119671
Comment: ROTFL! You guys responded just like I thought you would. Where are the females? What do you say?
Author: LatashaWillis
Date: 2008-05-01T16:28:09-06:00

ID: 119672
Comment: What's good for the goose, L.W., equal rights and all that. Men would need to deal with it. HA! I should live so long ;-) It's an over-done science-fiction plot, not a responsible solution to anything. Besides, we're going to have to deal with over population for a long time to come on our little blue planet, regardless of gender.
Author: Ronni_Mott
Date: 2008-05-01T16:39:26-06:00

ID: 119673
Comment: No it's not. The goose and gander need to know who the baby's daddy is. If the gander is sleeping with multiple partners how would she know this. This is the very reason I see s many boys dancing on the Maury show after the reading of the paternity tests. Polyamy guarantees knowing the father. Polyandy or whatever the hell it is called needs to be banned from the dictionary and world usuage. Lord forbids its practice. Somebody has to care for the younyuns. It not us men, who?
Author: Walt
Date: 2008-05-01T17:00:43-06:00

ID: 119674
Comment: I agree, Ronni. It wouldn't help matters any, but I just HAD to ask! :-)
Author: LatashaWillis
Date: 2008-05-01T17:01:57-06:00

ID: 119675
Comment: D
Author: saint H
Date: 2008-05-01T17:04:42-06:00

ID: 119676
Comment: Ronni you know better...i bet you want us to thank about gooses and ganders...well we aint aminumals...we are humans...and humans know that good seeds must be planted...see i look at man as if he is a lawn seeder...if you got good seeds, you want them all over the lawn...i say we go with polygamy and have a test to see who is fit for the program...im willing to sacrifice...ask not what our country can do for us...
Author: skipp
Date: 2008-05-01T17:13:56-06:00

ID: 119677
Comment: skipp, your comments remind me of that song on Grease 2: "Let's Do It For Our Country." Of course, the guy was lying to the girl and got slapped.
Author: LatashaWillis
Date: 2008-05-01T17:18:19-06:00

ID: 119678
Comment: God blessed me with a man 11 years my junior. Young women his age are busy finding their way in the world. And they should. They will have to wait for the next crop. Very well worth the wait. AMEN!
Author: saint H
Date: 2008-05-01T17:27:42-06:00

ID: 119680
Comment: "if you got good seeds, you want them all over the lawn..." skipp Don't get any of that on my lawn skipp.
Author: willdufauve
Date: 2008-05-01T21:05:15-06:00

ID: 119683
Comment: its cool...im not looking at yo lawn...buddy i got plenty of space over here...espically if this polygamy thang is legal...buddy...ima mark mine...a good ol s on the inside of the right thigh...you put a w on the inside of the left thigh...ima check before i start...man i think we outta nominate LW for a lifetime achievement award if this thang passes...maybe we can start with the jfp community and then show the world how this is a model of effectiveness...they could see how happy all the ladies are...it would be great...i can see it now...
Author: skipp
Date: 2008-05-02T08:38:10-06:00

ID: 119684
Comment: skipp, there are a lot of things I would like to be known for. THAT AIN'T ONE OF THEM. LOL
Author: LatashaWillis
Date: 2008-05-02T08:51:20-06:00

ID: 119686
Comment: God blessed me with a man 11 years my junior. I once dated (and still am friends with) a woman 12½ years older than I am, so there is definitely nothing wrong with a woman being with a younger man.
Author: golden eagle
Date: 2008-05-02T09:19:15-06:00

ID: 119688
Comment: I hear older women know what they're doing and the young ones don't. Is that true? Anybody who knows for sure key us in? And I don't want to hear any smart crap about you're old why don't you know!
Author: Walt
Date: 2008-05-02T09:24:06-06:00

ID: 119692
Comment: its cool...im not looking at yo lawn...buddy i got plenty of space over here...espically if this polygamy thang is legal...buddy...ima mark mine...a good ol s on the inside of the right thigh...you put a w on the inside of the left thigh...ima check before i start...man i think we outta nominate LW for a lifetime achievement award if this thang passes...maybe we can start with the jfp community and then show the world how this is a model of effectiveness...they could see how happy all the ladies are...it would be great...i can see it now... Am I the only person that finds this comment a bit offensive? I mean, I know you guys are just trying to be funny, but...that's not.
Author: ellen
Date: 2008-05-02T11:24:30-06:00

ID: 119693
Comment: LW has finally come up in the world as I knew she would some day. I think she'd make a good U.S senator or the likes with these progressive ideas heretofore hidden and denied to a growing and very needy world. Sorry Ellen we knew some women would be reluctant at first. I don't claim to be in favor of the branding or marking, intead I choose the mental marking. As long as she knows who she belongs to and acts accordingly I choose not to mark up or hide any of her beauty.
Author: Walt
Date: 2008-05-02T11:40:34-06:00

ID: 119694
Comment: I just left a legal convention a week ago, and as I talked to many very educated and knowing men of scholary acumen, we all were appalled even devastated at how there is so much suffering yet so little time for us able and willing men to do anything about it. We left the meeting dumbfounded and without a clue as to what we could do to make immediate changes and as Marvin Gaye begged "bring some loving here today. Lo and behold, the magnificent LW, heretofore quiet and rendered paralyzed by unknown forces, came up with the idea of the century. Often we have a hard time getting men to join forces together on anything. Today I haven't found a single dissenter or objector. Everyone is willing to participate fully.
Author: Walt
Date: 2008-05-02T11:56:24-06:00

ID: 119695
Comment: I've been told that I have a talent for stating the obvious, but this thread has devolved into absurdity. What started as a serious discussion about harmful contiminants actually changing the ratio of male/female births is now at the level of high-school boys bathroom humor. ima mark mine...a good ol s on the inside of the right thigh...you put a w on the inside of the left thigh...ima check before i start... Skipp, that's over the top and offensive on so many levels. Enough already!
Author: Ronni_Mott
Date: 2008-05-02T12:06:03-06:00

ID: 119696
Comment: Okay, fellas, you've had your fun. Tone it down a little. Let's get back to the topic. To top it off, male fetuses are more frail: stillbirths and miscarriages happen in disproportionately greater numbers to boys, having risen from just over half to nearly two-thirds between 1972 and 1999. I wonder why this is. I've even heard that premature girls are more likely to survive than boys.
Author: LatashaWillis
Date: 2008-05-02T13:10:15-06:00

ID: 119697
Comment: I agree that Skipp comment was over the top on that one although meant as a joke and to provoke. Congratulations Skipp, you succeeded. However, as a disciple of Shipp and LW, I don't know that LW's proposal is necessarily a bad one, is unworkable or an absurb one. Think about it, Ronni. If responsible, caring and loving men dedicated themselves to pulling this off, the good could outweight the bad. If child molestation or sex with minor isn't allowed this kind of behavior could work in some enviroments. Let's consider the Texas compound that making news out of Texas right now. I notice that many of the women claim to be happy and missing that husbands and way of life. I don't know for sure or necessarily that they aren't happy no matter the claims of brainwashing by the media, outsiders and ex-compound members. So let take out brainwashing as well. With open, knowing and intelligent agreement buttressed or aided by a stern, no way out and legally enforceabe decree or dedication to pulling this off, I aver it could work. LW isn't nobody fool. I've known her for quite some time. She put hopurs of research and critical thinking into this proposal before announcing her intention to offer it to the world. I wouldn't even be surprised if she has watched or participated in the experimentation and collection of data to show the soundness and scientific value of the idea. I realize it sounds far-fetched, but I'm not the kind to discard ideas from LW without giving them a chance to work. She has proven her skills here and I will never take any of her ideas slightly or lightly. Since traditional measures have failed us, I insist on doing it LW's way.
Author: Walt
Date: 2008-05-02T13:11:26-06:00

ID: 119698
Comment: Also, Ronni, I think you were the one who did the blog entry a while back about bisphenol-A (BPA) in plastic baby bottles. BPA mimics estrogen, which may have something to do with the shortage since plastic water bottles and cans lined with plastic have BPA in them. Read this. All that extra estrogen can be dangerous. [blockquote]What does this extra estrogen lead to? A decade of research has shown that BPA causes abnormalities during fetal development. In lab animals, it has been shown to feminize males. Most alarming to me, it has been found to cause the early onset of puberty (a risk factor for breast cancer, because it means a prolonged exposure to estrogen) and to promote pre-cancerous changes in the breast. Many studies show these effects at low levels – near or at the levels that come out of food cans or bottles.[/blockquote]
Author: LatashaWillis
Date: 2008-05-02T13:18:42-06:00

ID: 119699
Comment: Walt, PLEASE don't give me any credit. If anything, I should be knocked upside the head for bringing it up. As for the women in the Texas compound, they are obviously unhappy. Have you ever even heard them during TV interviews? They sound like robots. They don't even know what happiness really is if they think being baby machines is a source of joy. If that's what I would have to do to be "happy", I'd rather stay by myself.
Author: LatashaWillis
Date: 2008-05-02T13:25:02-06:00

ID: 119700
Comment: I'm out of town -- NYC! -- but peeking in. Please stay on topic and take the offensive stuff elsewhere.
Author: DonnaLadd
Date: 2008-05-02T13:25:45-06:00

ID: 119701
Comment: The queen bee has spoken!
Author: LatashaWillis
Date: 2008-05-02T13:28:16-06:00

ID: 119702
Comment: I don't know for sure but I wonder too why fewer boys are born. My daddy produced just as many boys as girls. I noticed many of the girls came later in his life. I have one child who is a boy. Surely my prowess would have gotten only boys had I kept getting children. What am I suggesting? I'm not suggesting anything. I'm saying though that it boils down to how much man you are. You see I'm not weakened, spoiled or dilluted by drugs, alcohol, foolishness, back-breaking work, prison or mental disease, although I'm yet to get a consensus on the last claim here. This is a serious topic deserving some serious consideration. Although I don't know beyond all doubt I do beleive the health of the parents play a great role in this. How hard you work at conception too, I am told by medical sources who don't want to be named.
Author: Walt
Date: 2008-05-02T13:29:22-06:00

ID: 119703
Comment: I ain't no psychologist although I have a BA in psychology and I enjoy playing one whenever I can. However, I have watched those women giving interviews. They do appear to be stressed out or overburdened by something. But how do we know it's not a direct consequence of having their lives interrupted and their children missing from their protection. I also notice there are only a small number of ex-members of any like kind sect or cult speaking out vehemently against such living arrangements. Surely, I think you have to be slow or crazy to agree to such a living enviriment but what do I know. I'm supposed to be crazy anyway!
Author: Walt
Date: 2008-05-02T13:39:19-06:00

ID: 119704
Comment: This is a scary matter for sure. I wondered how scientifically valid and acceptable are the points the Center for Controlled Disease is making. I notice much of that research or finding came from foreign countries. Has these conclusions been tested for error rates although I don't know how you could do that personally. Is there any data that juxtaposes or compares the health of babies born to mentally and physically healthty parents to those of parents with drug, alcohol, congenital problems and enviromentally diastrous living conditions? LW, other than your other proposal, do you have any other suggestions for improving this situation?
Author: Walt
Date: 2008-05-02T13:48:08-06:00

ID: 119705
Comment: However, I have watched those women giving interviews. They do appear to be stressed out or overburdened by something. But how do we know it's not a direct consequence of having their lives interrupted and their children missing from their protection. Maybe they're burdened by having to repeat their scripts to media outlets while the men go in hiding. You hardly ever hear from the men, if at all. I'm sure they miss their children, and that's understandable, but how many of those children know for sure who their mothers are? Some are raised with at least two mothers, and authorities are having to do DNA tests to figure out who belongs to who. Even that isn't a guarantee because so much intermarrying took place.
Author: LatashaWillis
Date: 2008-05-02T13:50:44-06:00

ID: 119706
Comment: That was a philosophical question, not a proposal. :-) The site I linked to earlier listed some ways to reduce the consumption of BPA, such as avoiding plastic bottles with the number 7 on the bottom. I think the only real way to cut down exposure to any of these toxins is to ban them.
Author: LatashaWillis
Date: 2008-05-02T13:59:53-06:00

ID: 119707
Comment: LW, you are beginning to make too much sense so I might have to sign off from the discussion. The men are hiding from jail or imprisonment. They don't know what the authorities or outsiders know yet, but they do likely know that if the authorities or outsiders knew a tenth of what actually goes on there all of them would probably wind up in jail. They're taking the Fifth. How can you explain college educated women or smart women such as the one whose name I cant remember but see on television speaking with great clarity, understanding, english, diction and cognition? Yet she stays for years. It has to be something more than mere dependence which I know can be quite crippling especially when you have children!
Author: Walt
Date: 2008-05-02T14:01:30-06:00

ID: 119708
Comment: L.W., the danger of pseudo- or xeno-estrogens from environmental, manufactured and food sources is well-known and documented. I got quite an education on the subject when I interviewed Dr. Joseph White for the JFP in January '07. It doesn't surprise me at all that all these excessive estrogens affect the robustness of male babies. Hormones are powerful and we've been messing with them for far too long. With every glass of milk or dish of ice cream, unless you go strictly organic you get a dose of the estrogens pumped into dairy cows to keep them lactating year round without pregnancy.
Author: Ronni_Mott
Date: 2008-05-02T14:11:37-06:00

ID: 119709
Comment: Walt, they stay because they fear what consequences they may face if they try to escape. Notice I said escape instead of leave. If they get caught, they could risk losing their children or some other severe punishment. The smartest person in the world can feel trapped when he or she can't see a way out.
Author: LatashaWillis
Date: 2008-05-02T14:12:41-06:00

ID: 119710
Comment: With every glass of milk or dish of ice cream, unless you go strictly organic you get a dose of the estrogens pumped into dairy cows to keep them lactating year round without pregnancy. For real? Oh my goodness. How much more does organic milk cost, though? The milk in the grocery store already costs $4 a gallon. I've tried soy milk. It's okay, but to me it's a little watery.
Author: LatashaWillis
Date: 2008-05-02T14:20:31-06:00

ID: 119711
Comment: Good information on ice cream. Luckily, I stopped eating a lot of icecream after I ate a half gallon by myself at 14. I grew up with lots of sisters and brothers and we were so poor you could only get 2 table spoonfuls and lick the spoon if you were lucky. At 14 somebody gave me enough money to get a hlaf gallon. I ate like it was the last half gallon produced and later threw up everything but my shoes and the memory of my first name. I swore I would never eat any more. Then Bluebell came along with that beautiful nice song they do in that commercial and I had to try some homemade vanilla. Luckily, I had a son long before I got hooked and polluted my boy-getting capacities.
Author: Walt
Date: 2008-05-02T14:35:18-06:00

ID: 119712
Comment: That song that got me addicted to homemade vanilla by Blue Bell is called I think "What are they Doin." It starts our asking" What are they doin in heaven today.... As soon as I hear the music, the melody, see the setting in which the commercial is shot, and hear the beautiful voice of the vocalist, I head to the refrigerator and pull out a gallon of that ice cream. Fortunately, by the time I've eaten half of it I realize a subliminal trick was pulled on me just like what happens to people in clubs all the time. Did y'all hear the one about the parrot and party-going owner. The owner taught the parrot to sang as he partied. Once any party got going real good the parrot always at the right moment would sang, "the roof, the roof is on fire, we don't need no water, just let the ______ ______ burn. The next day the owner took the parrot to church with him, and just as the music got good the parrot started to sang the song. Clearly, it wasn't the right time then, and the owner got mad and cursed the parrot out. The parrot lacked understanding and got disrespectful in return therefore cursed back at his owner, saying " these are the same sorry ______ ______ I saw at the club last night, so how is a pimping parrot like me supposed to know I can't sang the same song here. I ain't pretending to be religious like y'all, so I'm fixing to get up out of here. So long, you phony sum_____!
Author: Walt
Date: 2008-05-02T15:10:43-06:00

ID: 119713
Comment: About the diminishing number of "robust" men and the earlier occurance of puberty in girls..forget about chemicals,estrogen and other hormones leaching into the environment through milk, ice cream and hair care products..rather, consider that most babies in the US in the last 50 years have been fed formula, rather than mothers milk. This formula is mostly soy based...and soy has appreciable amounts of estrogen. HHHHhhhhmmmmnnnn....
Author: FrankMickens
Date: 2008-05-02T15:17:06-06:00

ID: 119715
Comment: Most formula is milk based. Soy formula is offered as an alternative (some children are allergic to milk). Some women aren't able to breastfeed for various reasons, which include health reasons, such as being unable to produce enough milk or being on medication. Also, 50 years ago, women didn't have to enter the workforce to help bring home the bacon as much as they do now. A one-income household is a challenge to have these days. Women can pump the milk ahead of time, but that doesn't work for everyone, especially if the mother's baby has a pretty healthy appetite. Unless we start hiring wet nurses again, many mothers need formula to feed their babies.
Author: LatashaWillis
Date: 2008-05-02T20:01:58-06:00

ID: 119723
Comment: Wow, I love that edit function.
Author: Queen601
Date: 2008-05-03T10:52:47-06:00

ID: 119725
Comment: Furthermore, the smell of Isomil baby puke is HORRIBLE. I was never so happy when my second child took to breast feeding (the first one wasn't down).
Author: bill_jackson
Date: 2008-05-03T18:01:40-06:00

ID: 119726
Comment: Yes, it does stink. I got a whiff when my second niece was a baby. My younger sister put her on it because she was afraid that the baby could be allergic to milk like my brother-in-law was. It turns out she wasn't. All that agony for nothing. Her belches smelled like turpentine.
Author: LatashaWillis
Date: 2008-05-03T18:44:14-06:00

Ellington

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