The United States in 1975 showed an expectation of life at birth for males of 68.5 years and for females of 76.4 years, a difference of 11.5 percent. But male death rates at most ages are at least 50 percent higher than female rates. The ratio of male to female rates, simply averaged over the ages, may show males 80 percent higher; the average with living population as weights may show males 70 percent higher; with deaths as weights males may be 50 percent higher. Our question is whether male mortality is 10, 50, 80, or 70 percent higher than female. The issue is raised in Sheps (1959) and Golini (1967).