Pete Hegseth wants to measure your manhood

[marmar]

Pete Hegseth wants to measure your manhood
The defense secretary's obsession with high testosterone levels can't hide MAGA insecurity

By Amanda Marcotte
Senior Writer
Published July 17, 2026 6:45AM (EDT)


(Salon) Pete Hegseth has once again decided to humiliate the American military, this time by claiming the troops need more testosterone. But the defense secretary, armed with his perfectly coiffed hair and alleged makeup studio, is ready to restore their manhood. In a video released Wednesday, Hegseth discovered spoke of how “the modern battlefield is brutal and unrelenting” and “demands maximum psychological and mental readiness.”
......
His solution? “High-T,” as he put it. Despite his loathing of “beardos,” Hegseth is excited about “fixing” those he deems falling short in the manhood-measurement department. Since he can’t actually pull out a ruler and demand his “warfighters” drop trou, the former Fox News host is doing the next best thing: making testosterone level testing mandatory for all service members over 30.

The move is just the latest example of a paradox that plagues MAGA men, from Donald Trump down to the everyday Joe Rogan fan posting workout videos in his Oakley sunglasses. Efforts to prove their masculinity are so over-the-top that they inevitably read more as anxious than tough, revealing the deep well of insecurity fueling the movement.

....(snip)....

But it’s unlikely Hegseth understands or even cares about what the actual medical science says. This is the same man who declared in 2019 that he doesn’t wash his hands because “germs are not a real thing.” He later tried to write his germ denialism off as a joke, but at the Pentagon he has ended flu vaccine mandates for service members, calling them “absurd.” This decision is likely rooted in nothing more than a childish understanding of biology, which equates testosterone with being “manly” and therefore assumes the more “T”, the manlier the man. In reality, artificially boosting testosterone, especially if not medically indicated, can shrink testicles, lower sperm counts and even make it harder to urinate. .................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2026/07/17/pete-hegseth-wants-to-measure-your-manhood/

[Swede]

1. That's so gay.

Poor old Hegseth. Denial is not a river in Egypt.

[Tim S]

2. I hope for his sake that it's not a taste test. So many people in the service, so little time.

[durablend]

6. Pete's had practice

How do you think he got the job

[doc03]

3. Trump keeps talking about all these good looking young guys and Kegseth

wants to measure them. I am starting to think Trump was really blowing Bubba at Epstein's Island.

[dalton99a]

4. NEXT: Hegseth unveils Total Domination Warfighting strategy, announces Special Medal for Rape and Murder

[JPK]

5. I used to work in theatre

All the shows I worked on as a properties master had an Equity cast as well as some non Equity actors. Many of the male actors were gay. I'm sure some women were as well but they were pretty low key about it if they were. But in regards to Mr. Hegseth, his attention to his appearance actually borders on being closeted gay. His obsession with grooming and appearance, not only of his own but with his demands of others, is truly over the top for a well adjusted, self confidant male. The gay men I worked around were very conscious of their appearance and grooming. Similar to the obsession of Mr. Hegseth's.

[haele]

8. I don't think he's gay, I think he's emotionally stuck at the age of 8.

And constantly angry about it. He may have physically made it through puberty, but emotionally, he's still an 8 year old bully who just wants to play with his toys and drank alcohol to deal with the frustration of not being able to really figure out how to grow up.

I wouldn't be surprised if there was a youth pastor incident in his past, and he's stuck in a trauma avoidance loop while still trying to be a righteous warrior type. I saw a few of those in the military when I was active duty. They didn't really see people other than as an inhabitant of a role.

[mdbl]

7. Doesn't injecting testosterone shrink the balls?

I wonder if that's his intention.

[MineralMan]

9. As Ving Rhames said in "Striptease," "Whip the little fella out."

So, Pete, "Whip the little fella out," and we can compare it against the troops.

[twodogsbarking]

10. Turn your head and cough, again, again, slower, faster, faster.. Stop, don't stop, oh Pete......

That was in poor taste but geez already.

[Totally Tunsie]

11. Maybe he should start with his boss?

[Skittles]

12. how much longer do we have to put up with his sheer incompetence

he is disgusting beyond belief