Steroids in America: The Real Dope.
I've been waiting for someone to write this sort of article for a while now.
We are a juiced nation.
We are a nation on dope.
We are a nation looking for enhancement, a way to age gracefully, perform better and longer, and, at the outer edge, vanquish what was once considered that alltime undefeated opponent known as aging. We do that by Botoxing our wrinkles, lifting our faces, reconstructing our noses, despidering our veins, tucking our tummies, augmenting our breasts and taking a little pill to make sure we're ready when, you know, the right time presents itself. We also do it by injecting human growth hormone (HGH) and testosterone, America's new golden pharmaceutical couple.
Indeed we are and have been for some time now. It's nice to see it openly acknowledged.
McCallum points out that steroids are the norm not just in sports but in many other walks of life: Hollywood, rap music, the rest of the entertainment industry, the police and military, and in our neighborhoods via gyms and anti-aging clinics.
But we are hypocrites. We denounce this or that athlete and act as though there's something thoroughly un-American about this sort of thing.
But it's not un-American. It's entirely American, that search for an edge, that effort to be all you can be, that willingness to push the envelope. That's what Andy Pettitte was doing when he took HGH. That's what Debbie Clemens was doing when she took HGH. That's what male collegiate cheerleaders are doing when they bulk up on anabolic steroids so they can lift more weight, or more female cheerleaders, according to author Kate Torgovnick in her new book, Cheer! That's what a rapper is doing when he receives a package of PEDs at his hotel. That's what Schwarzenegger was doing when he loaded himself with steroids years ago. That's what Kevin and Peggy Hart are doing in the privacy of their bedroom with their HGH and their "test," now as familiar a morning ritual as tea and toast.
Pointing out our cultural hypocrisy about steroids and other performance enhancers is not the same as condoning their use. It's simply acknowledging the reality: we are already using them. And the reality is only going to more complex as the science progresses. We can enhance our athletic performances, we can enhance our physiques, and now we can enhance our cognitive processes with drugs like Adderall and the like. These things are not going to go away. We need to be able to talk reasonably about these issues without surrendering to hysteria and nonsense.
Articles like McCallum's are a necessary first step toward that conversation.
