Sexual Dimorphism
In the past, specifically in the mid-nineteenth century, anthropologists found it crucial to distinguish between male and female skulls. An anthropologist of the time, McGrigor Allan, argued that the female brain was similar to that of an animal. This allowed anthropologists to declare that women were in fact more emotional and less like their rational male counterparts. McGrigor then concluded that women’s brains were more analogous to infants, thus deeming them inferior at the time. To further these claims of female inferiority and silence the feminists of the time, other anthropologists joined in on the studies of the female skull. These cranial measurements are the basis of what is known as craniology. These cranial measurements were also used to draw a connection between females and Negroes. French craniologist, F. Pruner, went on to describe this relationship as: “The Negro resemble the female in his love for children, his family, and his cabin". Pruner also went on to say that the negro is what the female is to the white man, “a loving being and a being of pleasure”. New forms of cranial measurement continued to progress well into the early twentieth century in an effort to further implement the sexual dimorphism between male and female skulls.
Research today shows that while in early life there is little difference between male and female skulls, in adulthood male skulls tend to be larger and more robust than female skulls, which are lighter and smaller, with a cranial capacity about 10 percent less than that of the male. However, new studies show that women's skulls are thicker and thus men may be more susceptible to head injury than women. It has been claimed that the larger male brain is an effect of having larger body size, and that after correction, the difference disappears. This is not the case. Before correction males average about 130 g3 more brain matter, this is reduced to about 100 g3 after correction for body size. Some authors consider this size difference to partly explain the alleged difference in average intelligence between men and women, and between various human races.
Male skulls typically have more prominent supraorbital ridges, a more prominent glabella, and more prominent temporal lines. Female skulls generally have rounder orbits, and narrower jaws. Male skulls on average have larger, broader palates, squarer orbits, larger mastoid processes, larger sinuses, and larger occipital condyles than those of females. Male mandibles typically have squarer chins and thicker, rougher muscle attachments than female mandibles. Surgical alteration of sexually dimorphic skull features may be carried out as a part of Facial feminization surgery, a set of reconstructive surgical that alter typically male facial features to bring them closer in shape and size to typical female facial features. These procedures can be an important part of the treatment of transgender women for gender dysphoria.
Read more about this topic: Human Skull