The Containement of Testosterone

Punishing young men took up a huge amount of resources for frontier folk.  Keeping them in the best shape for work, keeping their male urges in check and punishing them when they didn't.  The young male labour force created the West, but only under the liberal use of the whip and the liberal use of muscle from the older guys.  More severe correction was often needed, in dark places which no-one spoke about, since it was also deemed a waste of energy for a young male to spill his seed needlessly.  Everything had to be channeled into muscle energy, and the young guys were taught this in the only way they understood ? the infliction of pain on their burgeoning masculinity