U. Pittsburgh professor: Anthropologists can’t tell the difference between men and women

A University of Pittsburgh “socio-cultural anthropologist” told an audience at a recent Leadership Institute event that “no,” if he were to examine human bones a century from now, he wouldn’t be able to tell if they were from a male or female.

Professor Gabby Yearwood’s statement was in answer to a question from swimmer Riley Gaines. Gaines has gained notoriety for being outspoken against transgender female athletes competing against biological females, notably the University of Pennsylvania’s Lia Thomas.

Yearwood’s response resulted in the audience bursting out in laughter, according to Fox News. This led to Yearwood (pictured) expressing “shock.” “I’m just curious as to why I’m being laughed at,” he said, adding that he was “the expert in the room” and exclaiming “I have a PhD!”

He then asked the audience if they had ever been to an anthropological site and/or studied biological anthropology.

Gaines retorted that “Every single rational person knows the answer: men have narrower hips, their skulls are different, they have an extra rib, their femurs are longer, their jaws are different.”

The Independent Women’s Forum[said] When the self-proclaimed ‘expert in the room’ is offended that his assertion that males & females don’t have distinct skeletal differences is laughable. One might wonder what students studying anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh are being taught by their professors?”

One answer may come from Yearwood’s faculty profile. He teaches a course titled “Activist Anthropology” the description of which reads:

"[T]his course will teach students that “critical engagement brought about by activist research is both necessary and productive. Such research can contribute to transforming the discipline by addressing knowledge production and working to decolonize our research process.

In addition, The College Fix report last year on how some gender activists argue that scientists cannot determine the gender of an individual from his or her bones — because they don’t know how that individual identified him/her/(and their) self.

One archeology graduate student had said that “assigning gender to an ancient human [was B.S.—expletive deleted].”

But San José State University archaeology Professor Elizabeth Weiss referred to this as “ideologically motivated fudging.” She said determining the sex of skeletal remains “is a critical skill in forensics and any diminishing of this skill will negatively impact criminal investigations, denying the victims and their families justice.” Weiss, in an email to The College Fix on Friday, said: “Riley Gaines is correct on many traits, but males do not have an extra rib. This myth [TBC: “adds to"] the Adam and Eve story.”

https://www.thecollegefix.com/anthropologistcanttelldiff/