The utility of hand and foot bones for the determination of sex and the estimation of stature in a prehistoric population from west-central Illinois

This study focuses on hands and feet as indicators of sex and stature for Native Americans, hitherto relatively neglected in this regard. The study was performed on a large, well-preserved prehistoric skeletal sample from west-central Illinois. Discriminant functions are presented which determine sex with accuracies exceeding 87%. Those functions are then tested on three other Native American samples and found to have similar high degrees of accuracy. The utility of hand and foot bones for estimation of femur length (and subsequent inclusion in stature estimation equations) is also explored. While indirect estimation of stature is determined to be possible in this manner, it is suggested that these and other stature estimation techniques that have large standard errors may be of limited archaeological or forensic value. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Osteology,DNA and Sex Identification: Morphological and Molecular Sex Identifications of Five Neolithic Individuals from Ajvide,Gotland

Sex identifications are crucial for the understanding of the societies we study. To understand an ancient society we need to have some picture of the roles played by males and females in the society. This knowledge has often been produced by morphological sex identifications in connection with grave goods and burial finds. However, if a morphological sex identification is to be fully trusted, the human remains need to be fairly well preserved. There is also a problem in the fact that morphological traits identified in a modern material are applied on an ancient material. There is a growing difference with time and geographical distance. An alternative to morphological identification is molecular identification based on the presence or absence of a Y chromosome, but such identification has its problems too: the risk of contamination and the fact that the absence of proof is not a good female indicator. In this work we have tried to compare morphological and molecular identifications of five Neolithic individuals from the Ajvide site at Gotland in the Baltic sea. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sexual dimorphism in limb bones of ibex (Capra ibex L.): mixture analysis applied to modern and fossil data

Estimating sex ratios of fossil bone assemblages is an important step in the determination of demographic profiles, which are essential for understanding the palaeobiology and palaeoethology of any particular species, as well as its exploitation patterns by humans. This is especially true for ibex (Capra ibex), which was a main source of food for hominids during Pleistocene times. Classical methods for determining sexual dimorphism and sex ratio, such as analyses using uni‐ and bivariate plots, are based on an arbitrary fixing of limits between sexes. Here we use a more robust statistical method termed mixture analysis (MA) to determine the sex of postcranial remains (long bones, metapodials and tarsals) from ibex. For the first time, we apply MA to both a modern and a fossil sample of one species, by using metric data taken from (i) a collection of present‐day ibex skeletons and (ii) a Palaeolithic sample of the same species. Our results clearly show that the forelimb (humerus and radius) is more dimorphic than the hindlimb (femur and tibia) and is therefore better suited for sexing ibex. It also appears that metapodials should be used carefully for estimating sex ratios. On the basis of these results, we propose a classification of bone measurements that are more or less reliable for sexing ibex. The results of MA applied to the ibex fossil bones from the Upper Palaeolithic site of the Observatoire (Monaco) lead us to the conclusion that this assemblage consists of a majority of males. The quantitative estimations calculated by the MA make it possible to compare the size of Pleistocene and modern ibex for the whole set of variables used in this study. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Does Morality Policy Exist? Testing a Basic Assumption

Does morality policy exist? A growing body of scholarship has examined the ways that the politics of so‐called “morality policy” (e.g., abortion regulation, same‐sex marriage policy, and capital punishment) differ from the politics of other types of policy. In this literature, morality policies are assumed to be distinctive in that they generate conflicts of basic moral values, do not lend themselves to compromise, and are widely salient and technically simple. Using an email survey of morality policy scholars and a telephone survey of just over seven hundred Illinois residents in 2005, we test this assumption. We find that citizen responses about these policies vary along three of these four characteristics, just as morality policy scholars predicted. Thus, morality policies do exist, as assumed by these scholars. Our analysis also suggests some potentially fruitful avenues for future research on morality policy and other policy typologies.     

HEALTH OF HOME-BASED SEX WORKERS AND THEIR CHILDREN IN RURAL ANDHRA PRADESH,INDIA

This study uses secondary data from 2006 to assess the physical and mental health of rural, home-based sex workers and their young children in rural Andhra Pradesh state of India. The analyses of survey and clinical data show a high level of morbidity amongst sex worker women and their children. Women show high levels of nutritional deficiencies, anaemia, weight loss and hospitalisation. Women's mental health is particularly serious, with 92 per cent being depressed and 57 per cent having attempted suicide. The majority have experienced domestic and work-related violence, including rape. Clinical assessments of sex workers’ children show that most have received vaccinations, but almost half have parasites, dental problems and nutritional deficiencies. Both the physical and mental health of sex worker mothers are associated with the health of their children. Therefore, health interventions focusing on sex worker mothers have the potential to improve the health of their children.     

Sex differences in musculoskeletal stress markers: Problems with activity pattern reconstructions

This study examined six musculoskeletal stress marker (MSM) scores that showed reverse sex differences in the previously published research. MSM scores often differ by sex within a population. Most often females have lower MSM scores than do males; however, reverse sex differences do occur. If reverse sex differences are culturally specific, then these MSM scores are more likely caused by activity patterns than biology. Yet, if the same MSM scores show reverse trends in multiple populations, then perhaps these reversals may be the result of biological sex differences, such as hormonal differences and body size, or methodological reasons, such as MSM location. In the current study, deltoideus, pronator quadratus and trapezius MSM scores were significantly more pronounced in males in the California Amerind population examined. Most MSM scores examined significantly correlated with body size and age. With articular size and age controls, only the pronator quadratus and trapezius continued to display significant sex differences. Males had greater MSM pronator quadratus and trapezius scores than did females. The lack of sex differences in four out of six MSM scores may relate to the confounding factor of body size. Thus, it is suggested that some reverse sex differences in the published literature may not relate to activity patterns whereas other MSM sites show more promise. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

China's 100 Per Cent Condom Use Program: Customising the Thai Experience

This paper examines the adoption and roll-out of a 100 Per Cent Condom Use Program (100% CUP) in the People's Republic of China (PRC). It first details the initial implementation of a 100% CUP in Thailand and explains how this created a framework for action in other developing countries. It then examines the implementation of pilot programs in China. We conclude that governmental authorities in the PRC now actively target designated high-risk populations such as female sex workers in order to combat the spread of sexually transmissible infections and HIV/AIDS. This has resulted in the introduction of new legal frameworks and the use of widespread media publicity to promote condom use and safer-sex strategies. However, the more effective implementation of a national 100% CUP in China requires attention to the problems associated with the legal and social marginalisation of female sex workers, which is reinforced by police-led crackdowns on prostitution.     

Sex assessment of medieval Norwegian skeletons based on permanent tooth crown size

The excavation of the Library site in Trondheim uncovered the medieval cemetry of St. Olav's church containing 388 skeletons, of which 248 had skulls with teeth. Sex assessment was based on osteological criteria, and for 145 skeletons sex classification was performed with a high degree of certainty. The remaining 103 were classified as uncertain male, uncertain female and sex undetermined. Mesio-distal and facio-lingual crown widths of permanent teeth in the group of reliably assessed males and females were used in sex-discriminant analyses. A combination of two or more teeth was less effective in discrimination than using one tooth alone. This was due to missing data in the combined variable sets and thereby loss of cases. Missing variables were due to post-mortem tooth loss, attrition or large deposits of calculus. The teeth were ranked according to their power in sex discrimination. The left maxillary first molar (26) represented by its facio-lingual dimension was the best sex discriminator (classified 85 per cent of the cases correctly), followed by the right maxillary first molar (16) also represented by its facio-lingual dimension (classified 77 per cent correctly). With only one variable in the discriminant function, a critical value could be calculated and tabulated for each tooth. This was used in sex assessment of the osteologically undetermined and uncertain groups. Only variables that could sex classify correctly at least 70 per cent of the cases with the Jack-knife procedure were used. Sex assessment could be made for 16 of 24 (66.7 per cent) of the osteologically sex-undetermined adult individuals and for 21 of 44 (47.7 per cent) of the children. Of 35 osteologically uncertainly sex-assessed skulls, only nine (six men and three women) corresponded with dental classification.     

Radio – Ulnar Weight Index — is it a Useful Criterion for Sex Identification of the Human Skeleton?

Sex identification of human long bones has been studied by several investigators. Measurements of the radius and the ulna have also been reported as an indicator of sex by reference to separate parameters and/or to combinations of the parameters of a single bone. This study was designed to determine whether the radius and the ulna can provide reliable information for the sexing of human bones, as can the lower leg bones, if the forearm measurements include the weight index of the two bones as a parameter. The materials consisted of the dried radii and ulnae of 20 recently deceased Japanese males and 20 similar females. Almost all the dimensions exhibited statistically significant sex differences. The radio–ulnar weight index did not, however, differ between the sexes. In discriminant analysis, the rate of correct sex discrimination based on distances between various pairs of points was not improved by the inclusion of the radio–ulnar weight index. Therefore, the radio–ulnar weight index cannot be recommended as a parameter for the sexing of human bones.     

GIs and “Jeep girls”: sex and American soldiers in wartime China

ABSTRACT

This article examines how sex affected the larger politics of the Sino–US alliance during World War II. By early 1945, Chinese from across the social spectrum resented the US military presence, but just one issue sparked a violent backlash: sexual relations between American soldiers (GIs) and Chinese women. Two interrelated, patriarchal narratives about sex emerged that spring. Starting in March, government-backed newspapers began criticizing “Jeep girls,” an epithet coined to describe the Chinese women who consorted with American servicemen. Rumors also circulated that GIs were using Jeeps to kidnap “respectable” women and rape them. Each narrative portrayed women’s bodies as territory to be recovered and inextricable from national sovereignty. These narratives resonated widely, turning Jeep girls into the catalyst through which all variables causing resentment against the US military presence intersected and converged. With Japan on the ropes, China’s allied friends now stood in the way of irreversibly consigning foreign imperialism to the past. Sexual relations were not the Sino–US alliance’s seedy underside, but the core site of its tensions.