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Feminism: Sex & gender discussions

Women have Adam’s Apples

50 replies

IHaveAnAdamsApple · 30/04/2021 23:25

I have NC for this obviously.

This is a total minor issue but one that has been niggling at me for years. And I realised the other day that I rarely read here any more, as that thread all those years ago just made me feel like I could no longer be bothered.

It was a thread, I’m not sure how long ago but maybe 2-3 years ago? Someone was talking about the appearance of a person, and mentioned their Adams Apple. There followed a slight derail in which it was discussed that women didn’t have Adams Apples, a few saying that some women did, but then a few posters became dominant in the conversation and started laughing at the idea a woman could have an Adam’s apple. One post was something along the lines of “thank G-d you are here speaking reason, I have had these other posters trying to gaslight me into believing women can have Adam’s apples”.

I have an Adam’s apple and I am a woman. An actual one.

I just felt massively...ick? I’m not sure. I just thought “oh fuck off then” and I haven’t really been back.

And since then, whenever I see a woman with an Adam’s apple, I think of it, and I want to post something. So I am tonight. I’m a woman. I have an Adam’s apple, and that’s quite normal, and I’m not gaslighting anyone or really a man. Lots and lots of women have Adam’s apples. Everyone has a voicebox, and some women’s are more prominent.

Thanks for listening.

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Unreasonabubble · 30/04/2021 23:32

Is it normal for a woman to have an Adam's apple?
The degree of laryngeal growth in females isn't as significant as in males, so most women don't have Adam's apples. Some women with a larger larynx do, but this indicates the size of the voice box only.

I have just Googled this. I would not be worried if I were you. I think there are an awful lot more characteristics that would identify a man who wants to portray as a woman.

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IHaveAnAdamsApple · 30/04/2021 23:33

I’m not at all worried. I look like a woman, I am a woman, there’s no issue for me.

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IHaveAnAdamsApple · 30/04/2021 23:34

But thank you, I recognise your good intentions x

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Unreasonabubble · 30/04/2021 23:37

So sorry if I was clumsy xx

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AfternoonToffee · 01/05/2021 00:09

On the flip of that, can some men have very small, almost unnoticeable ones?

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IHaveAnAdamsApple · 01/05/2021 00:12

Grin I honestly don’t know. I literally know very little about Adams Apples really! Except I have one and I’m a woman and I’m once felt crap about that fact for a bit after reading a thread here. Excellent question though. I think a lot of it is about body fat.

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LadyBuffOfBuffdonia · 01/05/2021 00:13

I knew a girl in college who had one. She was bullied horrendously, especially by the boys. Wankers.

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EmbarrassingAdmissions · 01/05/2021 00:20

Smaller, flatter, but the structure is still there in women.

The increase of the laryngeal prominence takes place during puberty and is logically thought to play a role in the voice maturation that also occurs in this period. However, no work has yet been done to prove this relationship decisively, only small reports of cadaver studies.[2]

The classic measurement of the interlaminar angle (ILA) at the level of the vocal processes is 90 degrees in the male population, and 120 in females. The broader angle in women causes it to protrudes less, not push up against the skin of the neck, and ultimately be less visible. In both sexes, regardless of the angle, the primary function of the Adam’s Apple is the same as that of the thyroid cartilage which it comprises, to protect the vocal cords immediately behind it.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK535354/

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cariaaad · 01/05/2021 00:24

All humans have an Adam's apple, it is the boney prominence of the thyroid cartilage. It is more prominent in some men but all women have one too, it protects the voice box.

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Namechangedforthistoday · 01/05/2021 00:26

Random thought, would a goitre show up in the same position?

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NotAnotherAlias · 01/05/2021 00:51

Yes, although if the goitre was large it could be apparent over a larger anatomical area. I’ve seen large goitres extending down towards the chest.

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Namechangedforthistoday · 01/05/2021 00:53

@NotAnotherAlias thanks

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NiceGerbil · 01/05/2021 02:51

An awful lot of people don't know much about human anatomy. Half of women (I think it was) not knowing what a cervix is for example which is probably more well known than how throats work etc.

In general information people consume, the idea that women don't have one is quite common. I thought that I think, until I read your post. I mean, never really thought about it or looked or anything. Just not something I've ever given any attention at all really.

I suppose there's no reason for men and women to have different voice boxes. Men's do tend to be more prominent, something to do with voice breaking?

In the end it's hardly something that people use by itself to say what someone's sex is! I think it's more when there's a person with male characteristics including a very obvious Adams apple. Iyswim.

A girl being bullied over this is awful. Bullies will always find something.

Tbh I don't really look at women's necks at all. I've certainly never noticed in my whole life a woman with an Adams apple- just not looking. I suppose that means it can't be that common for women to have a really prominent one? Dunno.

The fact that plenty of people don't know stuff is just a thing. You could have said something on the thread? And tbh people say stupid shit all the time especially about women and especially how they look.

I'm sorry you were angry/ upset. What would you like to get from this thread? Educate women on this/ something else?

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MissAmericana · 01/05/2021 03:39

Yes, I've got a reasonably prominent one too (on a long neck) and was very self conscious about it when I was younger. Barely think about it now!

My pregnancy, and now the sleeping child in the other room, would tend to back me up that I am indeed female! Grin

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Monicuddle · 01/05/2021 07:45

I didn’t know this OP so thanks for bringing it up.

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ANewDawnANewDay · 01/05/2021 08:11

Sorry you were hurt OP.
This kind of thing is what I hate about this whole circus.
I find my first thought nowadays is to second guess people on all top 10, most influential etc lists. And this makes me question actual females too. It's not nice.

It's easier to see in real life though - so not an issue there.

But please don't let this stop you from coming here. There's tons of intelligent discussion here - like this one!

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Alonelonelylonersbadidea · 01/05/2021 10:39

OP I'm sorry you had a bad experience here which undermined you and made you feel gaslit. It's awful.
As PPs have stated, education and sometimes critical thinking lacks but I do think in general we're a good crowd and it is very important to hear the experiences of others so that we learn. No doubt you have taught some a lot.
It stands to reason that women have a voice box because we have voices! It's common sense.
My best friend at school had a prominent voice box but actually I never gave it much thought. It was just her. I don't think she was bullied about it, or at least I never saw that and she didn't tell me. I hope not.
Maybe they were simpler times back in the 80s!

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Anovaneway · 01/05/2021 10:47

Yes some women do particularly very thin women. There’s plenty of discussion on the internet about it over the years and every so often certain actresses who are thin with prominent ones get discussed in the media.

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BigHuff · 01/05/2021 12:12

Yes, I (female) have a prominent adam's apple too. Never really thought about it, or thought that others might have thought anything of it! Confused

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MissBarbary · 01/05/2021 12:20

Meg Ryan, Celine Dion and Ann Coulter have visible Adam's apples. In the case of Ann Coulter this has prompted internet discussion that she's a man.

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BodyMovin · 01/05/2021 15:28

That's shit OP. I know it won't help but I have often wondered if women with Adam's apples are hurt by inclusion of it as a typically male characteristic. My friend has one, and she is beautiful both inside and out.

I think many feminists are scared and desperate, because they no longer have the backing of a political party or a section of the media they can trust. We are told it is stereotyping /bigotted /forbidden to know females have female bodies so I can understand the desire of feminists to cling to the knowledge of what a male body is. Because the logical conclusion of this shit is equality between men and male women and a continued underclass of female women but no language left to describe the situation.

It is a truly shit situation. I'm really sorry your feelings were so bulldozed that you didn't want to be on this board.

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IHaveAnAdamsApple · 01/05/2021 16:56

Thanks everyone. What a lovely kind group of people. I thoroughly expected to get my arse handed to me.

I just wanted to say something, about my own female body. I was no loss to the board,
I mainly lurked. So thanks for letting me and for understanding this minor niggle.

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GNCQ · 01/05/2021 17:11

Generally speaking, the presence of an Adams apple and a deep ("broken") voice would indicate a male person, but the presence of an Adams apple and a female sounding voice would indicate a female person.

It is unusual for a woman to have a very prominent sticky outy Adams apple but as soon as she speaks her sex will be apparent. So it's not really an issue in itself.

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Shizuku · 01/05/2021 20:39

Yes, men and women both have adam's apples, but it's usually more visible on men.

Like all sex characteristics, it exists on a continuum between masculine and feminine extremes, and lots of people fall outside of the average, so there are lots of women with visible adam's apples and lots of men without them.

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Shizuku · 01/05/2021 21:02

@GNCQ

Generally speaking, the presence of an Adams apple and a deep ("broken") voice would indicate a male person, but the presence of an Adams apple and a female sounding voice would indicate a female person.

It is unusual for a woman to have a very prominent sticky outy Adams apple but as soon as she speaks her sex will be apparent. So it's not really an issue in itself.

"Generally speaking, the presence of an Adams apple and a deep ("broken") voice would indicate a male person, but the presence of an Adams apple and a female sounding voice would indicate a female person."

Generally, but not always. Voice is also a sex characteristic existing on a continuum so most men have deeper voices than most women but there's a huge amount of overlap.
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