Journal of Forensic Investigation

Review Article

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

Weitzel M1*, Cartales J1 and Cockrill L2

1Criminal Justice Science Division, Western Oregon University, USA
2Interdisciplinary Studies, Western Oregon University, USA
*Address for Correspondence: Weitzel M, Criminal Justice Science Division, Western Oregon University, USA; E-mail: weitzelm@wou.edu
Submission: 15 August, 2022
Accepted: 12 Septemer, 2022
Published: 15 Septemer, 2022
Copyright: © 2022 Weitzel M, et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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.