The scientific measurement and study of human body dimensions, proportions, and characteristics.
From Greek 'anthropos' (human) + 'metron' (measure). This term was formalized in the 19th century as scientists sought quantitative ways to study human physical variation, particularly in criminology and comparative anatomy.
Anthropometry has a troubled past—it was used to create fake racial hierarchies—but modern anthropometry is valuable in medicine, sports science, and ergonomics, showing how a method can be neutral and useful or corrupted depending on who uses it and why.
Anthropometry in late 19th–early 20th centuries became entangled with scientific racism and eugenics, often used to justify hierarchies based on skull size and body measurements coded by race and gender. Women's measurements were systematized for 'ideal' body standards, embedding aesthetic and reproductive assumptions into scientific practice.
When discussing anthropometry, explicitly acknowledge its history of misuse in justifying discrimination and note that modern applications require ethical oversight, particularly around gender representation in datasets and measurement validity.
["biometric analysis","human physical assessment","measurement science (with ethics qualification)"]
Women anthropologists like Hedy Lamarr (applied mathematics to anthropometric data) and Margaret Mead challenged anthropometry's determinism by demonstrating cultural variation and human plasticity. Their work repositioned measurement as descriptive, not prescriptive.
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