Female fetal development is more hormonally variable than male development

Evidence

In the human species as in most others, almost as many individuals of both sexes are born (100 girls for 104 boys); embryonic evolution is analogous; however, the original epithelium remains neuter longer in the female fetus; as a result, it is subjected to hormonal influence over a longer period, and its development is more often inverted; most hermaphrodites are thought to be genotypically female subjects who are masculinized later: it could be said that the male organism is immediately defined as male, whereas the female embryo is reluctant to accept its femaleness; but these tentative beginnings of fetal life are not yet well enough understood for them to be assigned a meaning. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 97

Categorization

• QUESTION: The claim that most hermaphrodites are masculinized genotypic females — is this a dated 1949 view superseded by later endocrinology, or still supported?
• XREF: connects to: Female biological instability produces an emotional vulnerability men lack
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Female biological instability produces an emotional vulnerability men lack

Broader Connections

• Female biological instability produces an emotional vulnerability men lack #exemplifies (0.75)