Sex Estimation in the Forensic Anthropology Classroom: Some Students Wonder, Where do I fit?

Abstract

Forensic anthropology students learn to estimate the sex of an individual from their skeletal remains, which is important in creating a biological profile for the decedent. Traditional methods posit a classification of very female, female, indeterminate, male, and very male. The fact is that neither intersexuality nor gender identity have been included as part of the practice is not lost on university students who are increasingly emboldened to reveal their own identities. We call upon forensic anthropologists to recognize non-binary sex and transgender identities as part of best practices moving forward.