In college I did a lot of research on the Black Panthers, which led to some reading on Malcolm X. I came across a footnote about Malcolm X having a medical condition that caused him to produce milk, which in turn may have contributed to his sense of militancy.
I know it’s wired but I’m pretty sure that I didn’t make that up. Has anyone else come across anything that even remotely connects to Malcolm X and milk? Any information would be helpful - whether or not it’s true, or even if it has ever been a rumour?
This is the honest truth - In my brain I read the title of this thread as “Malcolm in the Middle and Lactation”
I blame tiredness. Sorry for the hijack.
The medical condition that causes male lactation is called gynecomastia. Were Malcolm X to have had this condition at any time in his life it would have produced a noticeable affect on his chest, as every account I’ve read states that the estrogen hormone and fatty tissue needed to produce milk would have enlarged his breasts.
Gynecomastia is typically onset in puberty when not caused by hormone imbalance or steroid abuse.This photo, taken from the Malcolm X research website (brothermalcolm.net), shows his bare teenaged chest, with breasts on a lean frame that show no sign of abnormal tissue enlargement.
In short, I doubt very much the accuracy of the footnote in question.
Was the suggestion that the medical condition itself contributed to his “sense of militancy”, or that it was psychological? Because if the man did suffer from abnormally high levels of prolactin (milk-producing hormone), then it would have caused his testosterone levels to drop. The expected effect of that would be less aggression, not more.
If the condition appeared prior to his reaching physical maturity (as is usually the case), it would have interfered with his development. But the adult Malcolm appeared to be an ordinary adult male, and not childlike or feminine. A lactation-producing hormone imbalance also would likely have rendered him impotent. I can see how that might tick a guy off, but in his youth Malcolm was sexually active and he fathered several children by his wife Betty, so I think we can be pretty sure he wasn’t impotent either.
This is incorrect. Gynecomastia refers to enlargement of the male breasts (due to an imbalance in the ratio of androgens (male hormones) to estrogens (female hormones)). It does not indicate or imply that lactation is present. As Lamia said, correctly, lactation is due to excessive levels of the hormone called prolactin. High levels of prolactin do not cause breast enlargement.
You’re right – I had all the information right in front of me when I looked up this page and I jumped to the wrong conclusion when they said
So I assumed gynecomastia was the term for milk-producing mammaries in males – including enlarged female breasts – when in fact the doctor was talking about a whole 'nother condition.
To think I just chided someone in a Sherlock Holmes thread about needing basic reading comprehension skills. Oy vey, the irony.
Not for male lactation per se, but the medical term for lactation in anyone other than a nursing mother is “galactorrhea”. The folk term is “witch’s milk”.
To add a little more info to my previous post, as far as I know any medical condition that could cause galactorrhea in a man (e.g. a pituitary tumor or liver disease) would also have other effects on his health. I suppose it’s possible that Malcolm’s assassination cut his life short before these effects became obvious, but this seems unlikely unless the condition set in late in his life. Substance abuse can also cause galactorrhea, and in his younger days Malcolm did have a drug problem, so I guess it’s possible he may have experienced the symptom then. But I would doubt that it could have been more than briefly…and I’d have to see a reputable source to believe even that.
I’ve done a fair amount of reading about Malcolm X/Shabazz, and never saw any reference to his suffering from abnormal lactation. In his autobiography (ghostwritten by Alex Haley) he includes other embarassing details about his life, but he doesn’t say anything about lactating. That seems like the sort of thing he would mention as further evidence of how screwed up he was before he went to prison and decided to reform/got cleaned up/found Allah.
