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Race and gender effects on the human skeleton


Fun fact: 30-40% of all "cases" presented to forensic anthropologists are actually animal bones. Laymen are apparently just THAT bad at recognizing differences in bone structure.

I hope you get a chance to interact or at least listen to real people affected by racism and misogyny in this country. Developing and defending against strawman arguments about 'white guilt' is blocking your ability to apply logic to real-world, modern problems. You're too smart for that. Take a break, and listen to what actual indigenous folk have to say. Scarecrows being sock-puppeted by bad faith actors are not a useful measure of your compatriots' experiences.

I recommend some podcasts: "All My Relations" by Matika Wilbur and Adrienne Keene; "Existential" by coreyleak... these hosts have other POC podcasters on from time to time so you can easily branch out from there.

there's a difference between peer-reviewed, well-designed experiments that contribute repeatable and significant data, drawing rhetorical connections and patterns through history and literature by allusions and critical analysis, which is what you're referring to, and the kind of representation of information that gives strongly biased information equal respect without applying critical analysis, which is too common today.

If you can get your hands on this book it will clearly demonstrate why the difference is important and ways to overcome damage done by careless presentation of opinions:
"The Debunking Handbook" by Cook, J., and Lewandowsky, S. (2011); ISBN 978-0-646-56812-6

The range of male skeletal development and the range of female skeletal development have such a large overlap that "bigger and taller" is not a useful criteria in determining sex of a skeleton. It is proven that childhood activity level as well as access to nutrition affects the development of bones. Pelvic shape and scarring (from childbirth, which often cracks the pelvis) is the primary indication, although presence of osteoporosis can suggest that a bone is from a post-menopausal female.

Those differences are developed in proportion to hormone levels in adolescence, which is part of why trans folk say that denying transition to teenagers is abusive - by forcing a person to develop structural differences they don't acknowledge as belonging to their own concept of their gender, you ensure that they will always be uncomfortable in their own body. Two solutions exist: allow individuals to transition before or during adolescence, or abolish the social construct of gender entirely, especially the restriction of particular body types for particular genders.

For example, take note how XX teenagers who participate in intense sports, such as long-distance running and water polo, which can cause biological effects that suppress estrogen, develop "runner's body" androgyny, with narrow hips and broad, muscled shoulders and thighs. This is considered acceptable among cis women because it is an advantage in their chosen hobby/profession. 

Meanwhile XY teenagers who participate in activities such as baking, D&D, and theater often develop "soft androgyny" with wider hips and comfortable curves, which is considered a disadvantage among modern cis men due to misogyny. I don't know what the biological mechanism is, as I am not an endocrinologist. It could be that "the nurturing hormone" cocktail produced by roleplay activities and orgasmic desserts simulates or stimulates such phenotype development. 

At any rate, determining gender (or ethnic group) by bone structure uses what's known as "circumstantial evidence" in the field of forensic science - one piece of evidence is not (supposed to be) enough for a conviction.

Male clothing sizes are not particularly correlated to female clothing sizes and fatphobia exists for men as well as women. However, I do agree that if you had transitioned younger, you would have had narrower hips; your adolescence probably started earlier than most of the female athletes I am referring to; but your entire body is always turning over new cells. Even the longest-living bone marrow cells only live seven years in adults. There's not much longitudinal science done on HRT, but I suspect we will begin to notice average bone structure changes as HRT and androgyny becomes more widely accepted. Humans adapt and change to their environments. That's practically the definition of humanity - the species on this planet most capable of adapting.

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