Explaining Sex to an Anthropologist

Last week, the president of the American Anthropological Association weighed in on one of the most polarizing subjects in her field: biological sex. Some anthropologists believe that biological sex is binary, and that it is a necessary and useful category; others believe that this position is at odds with settled science and is a threat to people’s “safety and dignity,” as the AAA put it in an official statement. In 2023, organizers of a large anthropology conference canceled a panel that…