The illusion of sex change (can you tell male from female?)

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/f3e4aa2b273a.jpg[/atsimg]

In the Illusion of Sex Change, by Richard Russell of Harvard University, two faces are perceived as male and female. However, rest assured that the both faces are actually versions of the same androgynous face (neither male, nor female). One face was created by increasing the contrast of the androgynous face, while the other face was created by decreasing the contrast. The face with more contrast is perceived as female, while the face with less contrast is perceived as male.

The Illusion of Sex Change demonstrates that contrast is an important cue for perceiving the sex of a face, with greater contrast appearing feminine, and lesser contrast appearing masculine. This optical illusion won the prize in 2009 optical illusion contest as well.

Source

The way we perceive sex is amazing to me, we automatically can distinguish male from female in most cases based only on small changes in facial features.

got fooled when i looked at the above image, both are pictures of the same face

Hm... They both look female to me though the one with more contrast (the right one) actually looks a bit more male to me.

Reply to post by phi1618

I'm going to Thailand at the end of the year! This is important. How do you tell when they can shave adam's apples? You just made me cancel my trip


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

Yeah, I would have thought the one on the left was female or looked more female. But what about a different race?


I think are a very few male to female transexuals that can pass as female to most people. There are some women that don't wear makeup and still look great. I think the intersexed or those with both sexes are likely to appear more as one than the other....when they mature.

edit to add;

The one thing that usually stands out is the voice. If they can get past that, some might not care as much.

[edit on 17-9-2009 by aleon1018]

Have you all been hearing about the runner who was a woman, then it was discovered she had a penis too? An Hermaphrodite, I reckon. I have seen a few in films, and have also seen a woman with two vaginas, one above the other. I think a lot of this was caused by nuclear testing in Nevada. These people were mutated perhaps by radiation. And further, I have known men who, when dressed as a woman, were beautiful, and when the make-up and dress and fake boobs comes off, they were ugly. I have seen a few she-males in my travels, these have boobs, and look like a girl, some are strikingly beautiful, but have a penis. In LA there are a lot of these hooking on the street. the Asian ones will fool you every time! Watch yourself in Thailand, and bring your own protection, if you know what I mean.

well if the male was older you'd be able to tell right away . Women tend retain their child like facial features such as big eyes and smaller noses .

Originally posted by MrVertigo
Hm... They both look female to me though the one with more contrast (the right one) actually looks a bit more male to me.

Actually the right one is the less contrasted picture, so it's meant to look male. The left one is more contrasted: check out the difference in contrast between the lips and the surrounding skin.

Edit for typo

[edit on 17-9-2009 by borrowedname]

When in doubt, check the plumbing!

When I first looked at the pic before reading the article my first thought was they are both the same person, but if I had to say one was male I would pick the darker of the two.

hence, why we use make up. For contrast.

Questions like this make me happy to grow a beard, sets the men apart from the women. There are times that one cannot be sure of whether a person is male or female. A friend of mine is a testament of this - he was picking a 'girl' in a bar, later on that night he discovered that 'she' had a surprise for him.

Originally posted by NJE03
Questions like this make me happy to grow a beard, sets the men apart from the women. There are times that one cannot be sure of whether a person is male or female. A friend of mine is a testament of this - he was picking a 'girl' in a bar, later on that night he discovered that 'she' had a surprise for him.

In my youthful days, I might have wanted to grow a beard too, just to keep the guys from hitting on me so I could actually have fun at the bar. j/k
Don't grow a beard. Just some advice from an opinionated woman. I'm sure you look male enough.

I thought the one with more contrast was male, because (well at least here in Cali) the trend for woman seems to be light shades of lipstick where as the males tend to wear darker shades of lipstick. The contrasted one just screams fake woman to me.

It's far easier to tell in real life, compared with photos, imo

I've known a handful of transgenders and whilst from a distance or during a brief meeting they might pass for their 'gender of choice' when fully made-up, wigged, bejewelled and with the full complement of hormones -- the mind of the observer is picking-up that something's not computing

There are a number of transsexuals, transgenders, transvestites in our neighbourhood. Some do dress and make themselves up very skillfully, but somehow you always know, although of course you treat them as they wish to be treated, i.e., as females

Women are generally more aware than males, more observant, more intuitive, so are probably more naturally able to tell the difference between a 'born woman' and someone who isn't quite the same.

In my experience, most people tend to automatically overcompensate in the presence of those who're trying very hard to pass as women (in terms of politeness, not staring, etc.) It's only if/when you really get to know a transgender/other 'trans', that you find yourself relaxing and just relating to them normally. For some reason, it's more difficult for women (at least imo) to accept women who wish to pass as male

Originally posted by RankRancid
Reply to post by phi1618

 

I'm going to Thailand at the end of the year! This is important. How do you tell when they can shave adam's apples? You just made me cancel my trip

 

Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

 

Ya a friend of mine had a Bangcock surprise once

Good idea

thanks for the thread phi, I have noticed the exact same things as in the Op. I do think masculinity, and the nature of what is handsome, or vice versa for a female has many interesting characteristics.

It is a fine line between average, ugly, and pretty.


S&F