Humans

Humans

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See Human sexuality for information about sexual activities, sexual sensation, sexual gratification, and sexual intimacy between human beings

In humans, "sex" is often perceived as a dichotomous state or identity for most biological and social purposes - such that a person can only be female or male. But many factors, including one's biology, environment, psychology and social context, have a role in determining how a particular person, and those around them, view their sex. Although the table below shows common differences between males and females, many people do not correspond to "male" or "female" with regard to every criterion. Additionally, about 1 to 1.7 percent of human beings exhibit biological sexual ambiguity to the degree that they cannot be physically classified as exclusively male or female. This is known as intersex. A person with intersex may have biological characteristics of both the male and female sexes.

"Primary" sexual characteristics are typically present at birth and directly involved in reproduction. "Secondary" sexual characteristics typically develop later in life (usually during puberty) and are not directly involved in reproduction. Differences between the sexes are known as sexual dimorphism. At the biological level these differences are usually:

Level	Characteristics	Female	Male
Primary
	Sex chromosomes	XX	XY
	Gametes	Ova	Spermatozoa
	Sex organs	Ovaries	Testes
	Predominant Sex hormones	Estrogen and Progesterone	Testosterone
	Anatomy of internal genitalia	clitoral crura, vagina, uterus, fallopian tubes	corpora cavernosa, urethra, prostate, seminal vesicles
	Anatomy of external genitalia	glans clitoris, labia, vulva, clitoral hood, perineal urethra	penis, scrotum, foreskin, fused perineum
Secondary
	Skeletal Structure	Relatively shorter, wider in hips	Relatively taller, wider in shoulders, bigger chest
	Face	Rounded jaw	Bigger nose bone, brow bone,[17] squarer jaw, facial hair
	Body fat and muscle	Relatively more fat	Relatively more muscle[18]
	Fat Distribution	More in buttocks, hips and thighs	More in abdomen
	Body form development	"Hourglass" shape: 8	"Triangular" shape: ▼
	Other	Breasts	Adam's apple and body hair