Social Question

HungryGuy's avatar

Is There Any Way To Tell Whether a person is male or female just by their face without any cultural cues?

Asked by HungryGuy (16044points) December 26th, 2009

Suppose You Took A Photo Of A Person From the neck up, whis his/her hair cut short and wearing no makeup or jewelry or anything, and Against A Plain Background. Is There Any Way To Tell Whether The Person Is Male or Female?

Observing members: 0 Composing members: 0

22 Answers

gemiwing's avatar

Yes. Jawlines, eyebrows, mouth shape and hairline.

Likeradar's avatar

Yes, usually. Men and women generally have different faces- find pictures of people on the googles and cover up gender-identifiers until you just have a face. It tends to be clear, but not always.
For one example, men usually have stronger features, like their nose and jawline.

MagsRags's avatar

Since you specified including the neck, look for the adam’s apple – it’s much more prominent on males.

Esteban's avatar

most guys have beards or the vestiges there of. Women have moustaches.

hungryhungryhortence's avatar

Not easily. Usually a more pronounced supraorbital ridge or adam’s apple point to a male.

Pretty_Lilly's avatar

There might be some individuals that might provide a challenge.

Val123's avatar

Most of the time, yes. But there are a very few times that a man dressed in drag can really throw me, at least until I get a glimpse of his arms and legs…..men’s arms, legs, hands etc. display more muscles and veins, show up in a slightly different way than a woman’s, even if the woman works out. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but you can just tell. BUT, usually I can tell instantly, by his face, that the “girl” is a guy in drag.

Val123's avatar

Actually, I wonder if women can tell that quicker than men? I think I’ll ask that question! Thank you!

La_chica_gomela's avatar

You can tell with some people, maybe even most people, but there are some people that you really couldn’t tell.

trailsillustrated's avatar

their feet and hands.

ETpro's avatar

Not with 100% certainty. I met an 18 year old transsexual in Los Angeles who said she had been raised by vary understanding parents who let their boy start hormone therapy at 14. This person looked for the world like a beautiful naturla blonde young woman.

For most though, secondary sex characteristics, particularly a large Adam’s apple, are a dead giveaway unless surgically modified.

Buttonstc's avatar

Magsrags hit the nail on the head. The Adams apple is the giveaway.

Some transexuals even get to the point of surgical correction if theirs is especially prominent.

If you’re only looking at a photo it may not be that apparent since there is no movement involved.

HungryGuy's avatar

Thanks for all the answers, but I’m mainly trying to get if you can tell whether someone is male or female just by natural facial characteristics alone.

delirium's avatar

Yes. It’s the same technique that I would use to identify the gender of skeletal remains. Jaw angle, how much the brow protrudes, ocular shape all play a role in the determinant.

HungryGuy's avatar

@delirium – Thanks! Now we’re getting somewhere! Can you be more specific? How does the jaw angle differ between men and women? Ditto brow? DItto ocular shape?

delirium's avatar

Jaw angle on men is closer to 90 degrees. Ocular shape is very often more square. Brow often protrudes beyond the zygomatic structure.

HungryGuy's avatar

Seems very subtle, but is that how we generally know whether someone is male or female just by looking at their face?

delirium's avatar

Pretty much. Most people don’t recognize how they can tell, bur we’re evolutionarily programmed to see inconsistancies in facial structure based on our perceptions (which is why with portraits it is often easy to tell if something is wrong but hard for the average viewer to say what).

loser's avatar

I don’t know, does it really matter?

Val123's avatar

Does it matter if it matters?

Simone_De_Beauvoir's avatar

I will not presume I can.

Answer this question

Login

or

Join

to answer.
Your answer will be saved while you login or join.

Have a question? Ask Fluther!

What do you know more about?
or
Knowledge Networking @ Fluther