Female: Biological role, characteristics, and social distinctions

Biology and reproductive role

Across animals and many other multicellular organisms, 'female' refers to individuals that produce ova. In species with separate sexes (gonochoristic species), females contribute the egg and frequently invest more in each offspring through gestation, parental care, or provisioning. Some species display complex life-history traits tied to femaleness: brooding chambers, lactation in mammals, or egg guarding in fishes and invertebrates.

Females in plants and non-animal life forms

In seed-producing plants, the terms become botanical: plants that produce ovules or seeds are described as female, while those that produce pollen are described as male. Many flowering plants are hermaphroditic and bear both functional sexes within the same flower or on the same individual, a condition often called hermaphrodite. Other species are dioecious, with separate male and female individuals.

Females in animals and humans

In general conversation and many documents, male and female are paired categories; the term male denotes the complementary sex. In humans, adult females are commonly called women and adult males men. Human female anatomy typically includes reproductive structures such as ovaries, a uterus and a birth canal or vagina, whereas males commonly have a penis. The primary reproductive structures are often referred to collectively as sexual organs.

Secondary sexual characteristics commonly differ between the sexes: females frequently have breasts capable of producing milk for nursing and tend to have a different distribution of body fat and muscle. For example, average shoulder breadth is often smaller in women while hip structure is typically wider to facilitate childbirth, a difference sometimes described by reference to shoulders and pelvic anatomy.

Health, care, and social considerations

Women’s health care includes preventive measures and services focused on reproductive health, pregnancy, and cancers that disproportionately affect female anatomy. Medical specialists such as obstetricians and gynecologists provide care during pregnancy and childbirth and offer routine screening, including tests for cancer (for example cervical and breast cancer screening).

Variation, sex determination, and social identity

Biological sex is determined in different ways across species (chromosomal systems such as XX/XY, ZW/ZZ, environmental determination, or sequential hermaphroditism). Not all individuals fit a strict binary: intersex conditions produce variations in anatomy, hormones, or chromosomes. Separately, the social concept of gender—how people identify and live—can align with or differ from biological sex; discussions that distinguish biological terms from gender identity are important in medicine, law and social policy.

• Examples of diversity: hermaphroditic plants and animals, species with sex change, and parthenogenetic lineages.
• Practical importance: reproductive biology, conservation (knowing sex ratios), and public health planning.