An anthropology professor at the University of Pittsburgh denied the difference between male and female skeletons to derisive laughter from students during a speaking engagement from college swimming champion Riley Gaines.
Gabby Yearwood is a professor whose research focuses on ‘the social constructions of race and racism, masculinity, gender, sex, Black Feminist and Black Queer theory, anthropology of sport and Black Diaspora’ according to his bio.
Gaines, a rising star on the conservative speaking circuit, is an advocate to keep student athletes who are born biological males out of women’s sports. She spoke at the school recently and posed a question to her audience.
‘If you were to dig up a human — two humans — a hundred years from now, both a man and a woman, could you tell the difference strictly off of bones?’
Yearwood responds: ‘No’ to laughter from the students in the audience, as well as Gaines.
An anthropology professor at the University of Pittsburgh denied the difference between male and female bone structure during a speaking engagement from college swimming champion Riley Gaines
Gabby Yearwood (pictured) is a professor whose research focuses on ‘the social constructions of race and racism, masculinity, gender, sex, Black Feminist and Black Queer theory, anthropology of sport and Black Diaspora’
Yearwood doubles down, saying that he’s the ‘expert in the room’ on this issue.
‘Have any of you been to anthropological sites? Have any of you studied biological anthropology? I’m just saying, I’ve got over 150 years of data, I’m just curious as to why I’m being laughed at,’ he said.
At one point, Yearwood exclaims: ‘I have a PhD!’
The Independent Women’s Forum, who posted the clip, wrote: ‘This is how far removed the Left is from reality that they must deny basic scientific facts.
‘[Gaines] might not have a PhD in anthropology like Professor Yearwood, but she and her teammates know the physical advantages of biological males over females in sport firsthand,’ they added.
According to the Smithsonian: ‘Males tend to have larger, more robust bones and joint surfaces, and more bone development at muscle attachment sites. However, the pelvis is the best sex-related skeletal indicator, because of distinct features adapted for childbearing.
‘The skull also has features that can indicate sex, though slightly less reliably.’
They note that sex-related differences are not obvious in the bones of pre-pubescent children.
However, Discover Magazine notes that skeletal studies regarding sex can lead to ‘profound mistakes’ and can ignore the existence of intersex people, who are born with a mix of X and Y chromosomes.
DailyMail.com has reached out to Yearwood for comment on the incident.
Gaines was speaking about her experience competing against transgender women participating on female sports teams after she was forced to go head-to-head with University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas.
Gaines, a rising star on the conservative speaking circuit, is an advocate to keep student athletes who are born biological males out of women’s sports. She spoke at the school recently and posed a question to her audience
‘If you were to dig up a human — two humans — a hundred years from now, both a man and a woman, could you tell the difference strictly off of bones?’ Gaines asked
Earlier this year, Gaines slammed President Joe BIden for proposing to change the definition of ‘sex’ in a federal civil rights law to include ‘gender’ and ‘gender identity.’
The changes to Title IX, the 1972 law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that receives funding from the federal government, would therefore allow transgender female athletes to compete against biological women in sports.
By doing so, Gaines wrote in an essay, biological women would be placed at a disadvantage when competing against transgender women.
Gaines used the opportunity to recount how she was forced to share a locker room with Thomas at the NCAA Championships back in March.
Gaines became a rising star on the conservative speaking circuit, having recently been on a panel discussion hosted by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to keep student athletes who are born biological males out of women’s sports
The Kentucky alum spoke at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference
She wrote: ‘At the NCAA Championships, I saw a 6’4’ male exposing male parts in our women’s locker room.
‘To be perfectly clear, the anatomy I and many other women were forced to view, confirms Thomas is a male.’
Gaines said she then asked National Collegiate Athletic Association officials where she could change ‘as I had no intention of undressing in front of a man.
‘They informed me that there were no protections in place for me to change in a space that Thomas did not have access to.
‘To summarize, the NCAA put the onus on the female to avoid undressing in front of a biological man with biological parts who is sexually attracted to women. Let that sink in.’
Thomas’ participation on the UPenn girls’ swim team has brought the issue of transgender students’ involvement with school sports teams of their chosen gender to the forefront of the current culture wars
Conservative efforts to crack down on transgender participation in school sports have gained steam in recent years, particularly since Lia Thomas’ ascent.
It’s become a new culture war front and was even featured as a campaign issue in several races in the 2022 election.
The left and LGBTQ activists have pushed back, claiming that policies forcing students to participate in school activities designated by biological sex – rather than gender identity – is repressive to transgender youth.
As of now, 18 states have laws banning students from participating in school sports that align with their gender identity, according to the LGBT MAP project.
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