Deconstructing Biological Sex by Fuzzifying Osteological Sex: Implications for Theoretically Informed Practice.

objectivesIn forensic and bioarchaeological contexts, sex is estimated as part of the biological profile. However, current methods limit estimation to binary and discrete categories of female and male, reinforcing biological normalcy and normative conceptions of sex and gender, while excluding non-binary variation.

methodsA subset of cranial and postcranial metric data of assigned females (n = 603) and assigned males at birth (n = 1101) was used from the Forensic Data Bank. Unsupervised Possibilistic Fuzzy C-Means (UPFCM), a fuzzy clustering technique, was used to explore natural, rather than constructed, patterns in the cranial, postcranial, and combined datasets.

results38,691 models were generated using various parameter combinations. Optimal models identified were a six-cluster model for the combined and postcranial data and a two-cluster model for the combined and cranial data. For the optimal models, many individuals were identified as "outliers," especially for the cranial models, based on low typicality degrees. Clustering reflects bimodal variation with overlap between assigned females (AFAB) and assigned males at birth (AMAB) in their cluster of highest membership as well as distribution in degrees of membership across clusters. Membership reflected significant intra- and interindividual variation in sex expression.

conclusionsFuzzy logic, which allows individuals to partially belong to multiple groups, offers an approach that aligns with the complexity of sex-related variation. This research demonstrated that fuzzy principles can shift sex frameworks from binary to bimodal and continuous models, offering a means to address issues of biological normalcy and the harmful, rigid constructions of sex and gender it produces.