I've read recently that European females have darker skin tones than European males. This seems even to be linked to Wikipedia currently. This seems a bit odd, because observationally I'd say European females are observably lighter in tone. I'm open to this being maybe by some cultural/societal thing (such as men working more outside, practicing more sports, women avoiding sun exposure due to beauty standards, and so on), but the literature seems not very specific about this specifically, as far as I could find.
What is your take about this specifically since you much more informed than I about the literature and overall subject?
According to a meta-analysis of skin color studies, women are lighter-skinned than men in all human populations, but this sex difference is smaller in very light-skinned humans, probably because of a "ceiling effect," i.e., male skin color and female skin color are both pushed up against the upper limit of skin depigmentation (Frost, 2007; Madrigal & Kelly, 2006). It's important to remember that this sex difference varies with age: it begins at puberty and progressively widens during adolescence. There is also a period just before puberty when girls are actually darker-skinned than boys. So if you don't control for age, you may get a non-significant sex difference (Ebbinghaus, 1966; Kalla, 1973; Mesa, 1983; Relethford et al., 1985).
A recent study of young adults did find that women are darker-skinned than men on the upper inner arm, which is typically used to measure untanned skin color (Candille et al., 2012). That site, however, is increasingly unreliable for skin color measurement because of the growing popularity of full body tanning, especially among young women.
Candille, S.I., D.M. Absher, S. Beleza, M. Bauchet, B. McEvoy, N.A. Garrison, et al. (2012). Genome-wide association studies of quantitatively measured skin, hair, and eye pigmentation in four European populations. PLoS One 7(10): e48294. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0048294
Ebbinghaus, J.S. (1966), Differences in Skin Pigmentation between the Sexes. Master's thesis, Pennsylvania State University, Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Frost, P. (2007). Comment on Human skin-color sexual dimorphism: A test of the sexual selection hypothesis. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 133(1): 779-781. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.20555
Kalla, A.K. (1973). Ageing and sex differences in human skin pigmentation. Zeitschrift für Morphologie und Anthropologie 65(1): 29-33. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25756080
Madrigal, L., & W. Kelly. (2006). Human skin-color sexual dimorphism: A test of the sexual selection hypothesis. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 132(3): 470-482. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.20453
Mesa, M.S. (1983). Analyse de la variabilité de la pigmentation de la peau durant la croissance. Bulletin et mémoires de la Société d'Anthropologie de Paris, t. 10 série 13, 49-60. https://doi.org/10.3406/bmsap.1983.3882
Relethford, J.H., F.C. Lees & P.J. Byard. (1985). Sex and age variation in the skin color of Irish children. Current Anthropology 26:396-397. https://doi.org/10.1086/203290
Thanks. This article that found this difference in Upper Arm is the one linked in Wikipedia alongside your paper (although yours don't seem to make that claim, so I don't know why it is used as reference for such). But indeed, I didn't find other studies that found this result specifically, just that differences are minimal. I don't know if their controls were proper to filter effects such as you mentioned.
One thing that may colaborate to this effect, is also that females nowadays do spend more time outside in different activities than they did whe older studies were collected, since most work in similar environments to males. Seems like a relevant cofounder too.
Yes, this is why I attach more importance to the evidence from hormonal studies and digit ratio studies, which indicate genetic control over the sexual differentiation in skin pigmentation at puberty.
I know of five studies that failed to find a significant different in skin color between men and women, and in every case there was little if any control for age. The latest of those five is:
Pokorný, Š., Pavlovič, O., & Kleisner, K. (2024). Sexual Dimorphism: The Interrelation of Shape and Color. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-024-02918-1
The authors found a sex difference in skin color among Cameroonians and Vietnamese but not among Czechs. However, the Czechs ranged in age from the late teens to the late twenties.
Mind blowing as always.
Thanks!
I've read recently that European females have darker skin tones than European males. This seems even to be linked to Wikipedia currently. This seems a bit odd, because observationally I'd say European females are observably lighter in tone. I'm open to this being maybe by some cultural/societal thing (such as men working more outside, practicing more sports, women avoiding sun exposure due to beauty standards, and so on), but the literature seems not very specific about this specifically, as far as I could find.
What is your take about this specifically since you much more informed than I about the literature and overall subject?
According to a meta-analysis of skin color studies, women are lighter-skinned than men in all human populations, but this sex difference is smaller in very light-skinned humans, probably because of a "ceiling effect," i.e., male skin color and female skin color are both pushed up against the upper limit of skin depigmentation (Frost, 2007; Madrigal & Kelly, 2006). It's important to remember that this sex difference varies with age: it begins at puberty and progressively widens during adolescence. There is also a period just before puberty when girls are actually darker-skinned than boys. So if you don't control for age, you may get a non-significant sex difference (Ebbinghaus, 1966; Kalla, 1973; Mesa, 1983; Relethford et al., 1985).
A recent study of young adults did find that women are darker-skinned than men on the upper inner arm, which is typically used to measure untanned skin color (Candille et al., 2012). That site, however, is increasingly unreliable for skin color measurement because of the growing popularity of full body tanning, especially among young women.
Candille, S.I., D.M. Absher, S. Beleza, M. Bauchet, B. McEvoy, N.A. Garrison, et al. (2012). Genome-wide association studies of quantitatively measured skin, hair, and eye pigmentation in four European populations. PLoS One 7(10): e48294. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0048294
Ebbinghaus, J.S. (1966), Differences in Skin Pigmentation between the Sexes. Master's thesis, Pennsylvania State University, Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Frost, P. (2007). Comment on Human skin-color sexual dimorphism: A test of the sexual selection hypothesis. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 133(1): 779-781. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.20555
Kalla, A.K. (1973). Ageing and sex differences in human skin pigmentation. Zeitschrift für Morphologie und Anthropologie 65(1): 29-33. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25756080
Madrigal, L., & W. Kelly. (2006). Human skin-color sexual dimorphism: A test of the sexual selection hypothesis. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 132(3): 470-482. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.20453
Mesa, M.S. (1983). Analyse de la variabilité de la pigmentation de la peau durant la croissance. Bulletin et mémoires de la Société d'Anthropologie de Paris, t. 10 série 13, 49-60. https://doi.org/10.3406/bmsap.1983.3882
Relethford, J.H., F.C. Lees & P.J. Byard. (1985). Sex and age variation in the skin color of Irish children. Current Anthropology 26:396-397. https://doi.org/10.1086/203290
Thanks. This article that found this difference in Upper Arm is the one linked in Wikipedia alongside your paper (although yours don't seem to make that claim, so I don't know why it is used as reference for such). But indeed, I didn't find other studies that found this result specifically, just that differences are minimal. I don't know if their controls were proper to filter effects such as you mentioned.
One thing that may colaborate to this effect, is also that females nowadays do spend more time outside in different activities than they did whe older studies were collected, since most work in similar environments to males. Seems like a relevant cofounder too.
Yes, this is why I attach more importance to the evidence from hormonal studies and digit ratio studies, which indicate genetic control over the sexual differentiation in skin pigmentation at puberty.
I know of five studies that failed to find a significant different in skin color between men and women, and in every case there was little if any control for age. The latest of those five is:
Pokorný, Š., Pavlovič, O., & Kleisner, K. (2024). Sexual Dimorphism: The Interrelation of Shape and Color. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-024-02918-1
The authors found a sex difference in skin color among Cameroonians and Vietnamese but not among Czechs. However, the Czechs ranged in age from the late teens to the late twenties.
Interesting stuff
Thanks! I'll try to keep posting here once a month.