# Telling Males and Females Apart... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 25, 2000, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telling-males-and-females-apart/42623 "2000-11-25T05:08:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telling-males-and-females-apart/42623/1 "2000-11-25T05:08:00Z")
Hi…I apologise profusely in advance if this has already been asked. But I don’t think it has been. I have tried looking for it without success. So how can you tell the difference between males and females, by their facial features? That is, without looking at a person’s crotch/chest, or at their facial hair, or at the length of their hair, how can one tell a male from a female? Lots of guys have long hairs, but one knows its a guy, not a girl. And conversely, many females have short/no hair, but you can somehow tell, they’re females. So what is it that makes you know? I’ve pondered this awhile, but I really don’t know. Thanks all… ---
**Author:** ![light\_strand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a6a055/32.png) [@light\_strand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/light_strand)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telling-males-and-females-apart/42623/2 "2000-11-25T05:10:03Z")
Do necks count? Men have Adam’s apples, women don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telling-males-and-females-apart/42623/3 "2000-11-25T05:32:41Z")
I know women with Adam’s apples. At least I think they’re women 🙂 But seriously…Now I’m a wondering ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telling-males-and-females-apart/42623/4 "2000-11-25T06:12:52Z")
Seems to me that women tend to have softer facial features than men… but that is only a tendancy! Basically, there is no way to tell male/female 100% of the time just from the face. Look at Janet Reno! _Yikes_!! ---
**Author:** ![Skelji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Skelji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skelji)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telling-males-and-females-apart/42623/5 "2000-11-25T06:16:10Z")
Facial hair / stubble has always been a tip-off for me. 🙂 Often female noses are somewhat smaller, too. (Well, this usually works, unless you’re in some Eastern block country…) Other than that, I don’t know. I wonder if anyone has done and experiments with cut-outs that only show a person’s face? Of course, the older the subjects, the easier (usually) it is to distinguish. I would guess that there is some difference in bone structure that, while seemingly imperceptible to our conscious minds, registers on a primordial sub-conscious level. You know, like how babies have those characteristic wide-set eyes and broad foreheads. There has to be some physiological mechanism to help us distinguish between male and female, probably going back tens of thousands of years before hairstyles and fashion allowed us to tell the difference. This trait serves us today when we are smashed and horny, and in a dimly lit bar. ---
**Author:** ![Crispy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@Crispy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crispy)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telling-males-and-females-apart/42623/6 "2000-11-25T06:33:22Z")
I believe men usually have wider, squarer jawlines and more sloping foreheads than women. Men’s noses are ordinarily broader with larger nostrils. ---
**Author:** ![Kriss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kriss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kriss)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telling-males-and-females-apart/42623/7 "2000-11-25T06:36:52Z")
Hmm, well, they have softer skin and , well , umm common sense. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telling-males-and-females-apart/42623/8 "2000-11-25T07:37:19Z")
Take a quick look at the forearms and hands. Women’s body hair is finer and usually shorter. The hands will be smaller and the fingers narrower in proportion to the wrist and palm. Quite often, the fingernails are a giveaway as well. Not too many guys are painting their nails yet. The jewelery worn, such as bracelets and rings, is a fast study of the owner too. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telling-males-and-females-apart/42623/9 "2000-11-25T07:38:49Z")
[hijack] I love women! Thank you, God. [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homer)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telling-males-and-females-apart/42623/10 "2000-11-25T09:53:04Z")
Look at the hip structure. Women have a wider pelvis. This lends to a larger distance between legs up top. –Tim ---
**Author:** ![Osip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4491bb/32.png) [@Osip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osip)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telling-males-and-females-apart/42623/11 "2000-11-25T12:51:18Z")
Osip remembers Dr Maples a forensic anthropologist who says that the knees and the hip joins are the best way to determine sex of skeleton. Men’s knees tend to be more pronounced, show more wear and tear, and have deeper muscle grooves. Maples does state it is sometimes dificult now because females are much more active. Womens ball joints in the hips are different from mens by a few degrees. This is mainly for birthing reasons, this is what is the cause Homer refered to. Osip ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telling-males-and-females-apart/42623/12 "2000-11-25T14:19:06Z")
It’s not always that easy… check this out: [http://www.adcritic.com/content/clarica-dance-club-bathroom-clarity.html](http://www.adcritic.com/content/clarica-dance-club-bathroom-clarity.html) ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telling-males-and-females-apart/42623/13 "2000-11-25T14:20:43Z")
I think the OP is talking faces, not overall. I think the answer that **Zoggie** is looking for here would be something like, “One decides whether the person one is talking to is male or female, based on a combination of visual cues, including size and shape of nose, mouth, and jawline, the presence or absence of facial hair, and the size and shape of eyebrows.” But you can also be wrong, based on these cues, because, for example, there are plenty of DNA-females out there with heavy jawlines (think Martina Navratilova) and DNA-males with slender jawlines (think Backstreet Boys and N’Sync, but only for a moment, because I don’t want you to get sick). I know there are studies out there somewhere (sorry, I don’t have a cite) where scientists showed pictures of faces to people and asked them to decide whether the faces were male or female, and IMHO, all they actually proved was that people tend to have stereotyped ideas about what looks “male” or “female”. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telling-males-and-females-apart/42623/14 "2000-11-25T14:22:57Z")
[waving hand wildly] Ooh, ooh! I just thought of an even better example of a DNA-male (at least, so we’re told :rolleyes: ) with a slender jawline: Leonardo DiCaprio. Hah. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telling-males-and-females-apart/42623/15 "2000-11-25T18:52:04Z")
Thanks- all… Yes, I was mainly referring to faces, but this other info is pretty informative too. I’m starting to conclude that it _is_ what we make of it, that is- we have stereotypically male or female features…That study you mentioned, **Duck Duck** , sounds pretty interesting… ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telling-males-and-females-apart/42623/16 "2000-11-25T19:25:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > I think the answer that **Zoggie** is looking for here would be something like, “One decides whether the person one is talking to is male or female, based on a combination of visual cues, including size and shape of nose, mouth, and jawline, the presence or absence of facial hair, and the size and shape of eyebrows.” And of course the presence of make-up. Yes, I know there are exceptions. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telling-males-and-females-apart/42623/17 "2000-11-25T19:29:54Z")
If you want to include another portion of the anatomy…look at their hands. Lay your hands flat on a table, fingers together. Now compare. A man’s ring finger will be longer that his first finger. A woman’s first finger is longer than her ring finger. Weird, but it works. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telling-males-and-females-apart/42623/18 "2000-11-25T19:55:06Z")
Um. I must be a man, then. Won’t my husband be surprised? Not to mention my three Lamaze-method children… (wasn’t there a discussion of this a long time ago, concerning whether homosexuals have different size fingers? I seem to remember somebody **else** remarking, “Well, damn, I must be a man, then…”) ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telling-males-and-females-apart/42623/19 "2000-11-25T20:05:51Z")
I heard about that…being supposedly gay if a certain finger was too long or too short. (Yeah. Right.) I don’t think that would hold up though- I don’t think your finger lengths really relate to your gender, at least not all the time. Though I have noticed that a guy’s hands will look different than a girl’s. People have mentioned that women tend to have softer, more feminine characteristics…I’m wondering, was this always so? Like in the very beginning of the history of the human race, could you tell a male from a female by their facial features? Or is this something that people have subconciously evolved over time? ---
**Author:** ![kinoons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a698b9/32.png) [@kinoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kinoons)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telling-males-and-females-apart/42623/20 "2000-11-25T22:13:45Z")
Oh, both men and women have the thyroid cartilage (Adam’s apple) That piece is just usually more pronounced in men, but this is by no means a reliable means of sex identification [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telling-males-and-females-apart/42623.md?page=2)