When we think of sex hormones, two immediately come to mind: estrogen for women and testosterone for men. This, like many ideas about biological sex, isn’t actually biologically accurate.
Let’s break it down.
There are three kinds of sex hormones, also known as sex steroids or gonadal steroids: androgens, estrogens, and progestogens. All three are produced by people of every sex and are synthesized, primarily, in the gonads and adrenal glands. These hormone levels change over the course of someone’s life, for example they go up during puberty and go down around middle age. But, they also change in response to diet, environment, and many other day-to-day factors (DuBois & Shattuck-Heidorn, 2021).
Hormones don’t always work the way we expect them to. In some cases, the testes may produce testosterone, but the cells in the body don’t respond to it. This is known as androgen insensitivity syndrome, and individuals who have it are intersex and usually develop typically female secondary sex characteristics (Blackless et al., 2000).
The short of it is:
| Androgens | Estrogens | Progestogens | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reproductive functions | - Development of testes & prostate |
![Source: By David Richfield (Slashme) and Mikael Häggström. Derived from previous version by Hoffmeier and Settersr. In external use, this diagram may be cited as:(2014). "Diagram of the pathways of human steroidogenesis". WikiJournal of Medicine 1 (1). DOI:10.15347/wjm/2014.005. ISSN 20018762. - Häggström M, Richfield D (2014). "Diagram of the pathways of human steroidogenesis". WikiJournal of Medicine 1 (1). DOI:10.15347/wjm/2014.005. ISSN 20024436., CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4494399]](https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/acc3d009-3d80-40b0-b4df-b7116dfe8ce2/3933eff7-9397-4134-85ea-96da7d87561b/Steroidogenesis.svg)
Source: By David Richfield (Slashme) and Mikael Häggström. Derived from previous version by Hoffmeier and Settersr. In external use, this diagram may be cited as:(2014). "Diagram of the pathways of human steroidogenesis". WikiJournal of Medicine 1 (1). DOI:10.15347/wjm/2014.005. ISSN 20018762. - Häggström M, Richfield D (2014). "Diagram of the pathways of human steroidogenesis". WikiJournal of Medicine 1 (1). DOI:10.15347/wjm/2014.005. ISSN 20024436., CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4494399]
For more details:
Blackless, M., Charuvastra, A., Derryck, A., Fausto-Sterling, A., Lauzanne, K., & Lee, E. (2000). How sexually dimorphic are we? Review and synthesis. American Journal of Human Biology, 12(2), 151–166. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1520-6300(200003/04)12:2<151::AID-AJHB1>3.0.CO;2-F
Burger, H. G. (2002). Androgen production in women. Fertility and Sterility, 77, 3–5. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0015-0282(02)02985-0
Cauley, J. A. (2015). Estrogen and bone health in men and women. Steroids, 99, 11–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.steroids.2014.12.010
Chen, J.-Q., Brown, T. R., & Russo, J. (2009). Regulation of energy metabolism pathways by estrogens and estrogenic chemicals and potential implications in obesity associated with increased exposure to endocrine disruptors. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular Cell Research, 1793(7), 1128–1143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbamcr.2009.03.009
DuBois, L. Z., & Shattuck-Heidorn, H. (2021). Challenging the binary: Gender/sex and the bio-logics of normalcy. American Journal of Human Biology, 33(5), e23623. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23623
Geniole, S. N., & Carré, J. M. (2018). Human social neuroendocrinology: Review of the rapid effects of testosterone. Hormones and Behavior, 104, 192–205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2018.06.001
Karkazis, K., & Jordan-Young, R. M. (2018). The Powers of Testosterone: Obscuring Race and Regional Bias in the Regulation of Women Athletes. Feminist Formations, 30(2), 1–39.
