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.