{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,29]],"date-time":"2026-04-29T09:32:22Z","timestamp":1777455142702,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":87,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,7,1]],"date-time":"2021-07-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1625097600000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Big Data &amp; Society"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,7]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Scholars are increasingly concerned about social biases in facial analysis systems, particularly with regard to the tangible consequences of misidentification of marginalized groups. However, few have examined how automated facial analysis technologies intersect with the historical genealogy of racialized gender\u2014the gender binary and its classification as a highly racialized tool of colonial power and control. In this paper, we introduce the concept of auto-essentialization: the use of automated technologies to re-inscribe the essential notions of difference that were established under colonial rule. We consider how the face has emerged as a legitimate site of gender classification, despite being historically tied to projects of racial domination. We examine the history of gendering the face and body, from colonial projects aimed at disciplining bodies which do not fit within the European gender binary, to sexology's role in normalizing that binary, to physiognomic practices that ascribed notions of inferiority to non-European groups and women. We argue that the contemporary auto-essentialization of gender via the face is both racialized and trans-exclusive: it asserts a fixed gender binary and it elevates the white face as the ultimate model of gender difference. We demonstrate that imperialist ideologies are reflected in modern automated facial analysis tools in computer vision through two case studies: (1) commercial gender classification and (2) the security of both small-scale (women-only online platforms) and large-scale (national borders) spaces. Thus, we posit a rethinking of ethical attention to these systems: not as immature and novel, but as mature instantiations of much older technologies.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/20539517211053712","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,6]],"date-time":"2021-12-06T05:36:56Z","timestamp":1638769016000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":57,"title":["Auto-essentialization: Gender in automated facial analysis as extended colonial project"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"8","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6049-3965","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Morgan Klaus","family":"Scheuerman","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Information Science, University of Colorado Boulder, USA"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8075-5934","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Madeleine","family":"Pape","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Sports Sciences, University of Lausanne, Switzerland"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8957-0813","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alex","family":"Hanna","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ethical AI, Google Research, Mountain View, USA"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-20539517211053712","unstructured":"American Civil Liberties Union (2021) Legislation Affecting LGBT Rights Across the Country."},{"key":"bibr2-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1590\/0004-282x20180022"},{"key":"bibr3-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.17265\/2159-5313\/2016.09.003"},{"key":"bibr4-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0306396813509194"},{"key":"bibr5-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.5334\/opt.081013"},{"key":"bibr6-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.17265\/2159-5313\/2016.09.003"},{"key":"bibr7-20539517211053712","volume-title":"Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code","author":"Benjamin R","year":"2019"},{"key":"bibr8-20539517211053712","unstructured":"Berry JA, Berry CP (1999) Genocide in Rwanda: A Collective Memory. Washington, DC: Howard University Press. p. 201."},{"key":"bibr9-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1527-2001.2007.tb01090.x"},{"key":"bibr10-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/6352.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr11-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.5860\/CHOICE.48-0628"},{"key":"bibr12-20539517211053712","unstructured":"Brah A, Phoenix A (2004) Ain\u2019t I a woman? Revisiting intersectionality."},{"key":"bibr13-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0896920509347144"},{"key":"bibr14-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1215\/9780822375302"},{"key":"bibr15-20539517211053712","unstructured":"Brunelli R, Poggio T (1992) HyberBF\n                      Networks for Gender Classification\n                      . In:\n                      DARPA image understanding workshop\n                      (1140), pp. 311\u2013314."},{"key":"bibr16-20539517211053712","unstructured":"BSF (2015) A map of gender-diverse cultures. http:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/content\/two-spirits_map-html\/."},{"key":"bibr17-20539517211053712","unstructured":"Buolamwini J (2018) AI, Ain\u2019t I A Woman? https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=QxuyfWoVV98."},{"key":"bibr18-20539517211053712","unstructured":"Buolamwini J, Gebru T (2018) Gender shades: Intersectional accuracy disparities in commercial gender classification *. Technical report."},{"key":"bibr19-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1515\/9781400830428"},{"key":"bibr20-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s11417-017-9248-7"},{"key":"bibr21-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/3173574.3174225"},{"key":"bibr22-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.36643\/mjrl.24.2.digital"},{"key":"bibr23-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1527476418796632"},{"key":"bibr24-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4135\/9781483384269.n112"},{"key":"bibr25-20539517211053712","unstructured":"Curtis A (2011) All watched over by machines of loving grace: The monkey in the machine and the machine in the monkey."},{"key":"bibr26-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1167\/7.4.6"},{"key":"bibr27-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.18574\/nyu\/9781479891993.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr28-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.17265\/2159-5313\/2016.09.003"},{"key":"bibr29-20539517211053712","unstructured":"Du Bois WEB (1947)\n                      The World and Africa: An Inquiry into the Part Which Africa has Played in World History\n                      ."},{"key":"bibr30-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1215\/23289252-2685615"},{"key":"bibr31-20539517211053712","volume-title":"Black Skin, White Masks","author":"Fanon F","year":"1967"},{"key":"bibr32-20539517211053712","volume-title":"Lessons From the Intersexed","author":"Kessler S","year":"1998"},{"key":"bibr33-20539517211053712","unstructured":"Fausto-Sterling A (1995) Gender, race, and nation: The comparative anatomy of hottentot women in europe, 1815\u20131817. In: Terry J (ed)\n                      Deviant bodies: Critical Perspectives on Difference in Science and Popular Culture\n                      , 19\u201348."},{"key":"bibr35-20539517211053712","volume-title":"The History of Sexuality: An Introduction","author":"Foucault M","year":"2012"},{"key":"bibr36-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1109\/TPAMI.2014.2321570"},{"key":"bibr37-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1086\/505612"},{"key":"bibr38-20539517211053712","unstructured":"Ghaffary S, Molla R (2019) Facial recognition: A map of where surveillance technology is in the US.\n                      Vox\n                      ."},{"key":"bibr39-20539517211053712","first-page":"572","volume":"3","author":"Golomb B","year":"1991","journal-title":"Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 3"},{"key":"bibr40-20539517211053712","volume-title":"About Face: German Physiognomic Thought From Lavater to Auschwitz","author":"Gray RT","year":"2004"},{"key":"bibr41-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.17265\/2159-5313\/2016.09.003"},{"key":"bibr42-20539517211053712","unstructured":"Harrowitz NA (1994) Lombroso and the Logic of Intolerance. In:\n                      Tainted Greatness: Antisemitism and Cultural Heroes\n                      . Temple University Press."},{"key":"bibr43-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1109\/TBIOM.2021.3132237"},{"key":"bibr44-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/9781108592208"},{"key":"bibr45-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1728-4457.2004.00021.x"},{"key":"bibr46-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1461444820958725"},{"key":"bibr47-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3172\/min.2.2.44"},{"key":"bibr48-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4324\/9781315865607"},{"key":"bibr49-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1525\/jlat.2007.12.1.255"},{"key":"bibr50-20539517211053712","volume-title":"Deviant Bodies: Critical Perspectives on Difference in Science and Popular Culture","author":"Jacobson N","year":"1995"},{"issue":"9","key":"bibr51-20539517211053712","first-page":"1","volume":"5","author":"Jalata A","year":"2013","journal-title":"Journal of Pan African Studies"},{"key":"bibr52-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2307\/j.ctvjf9w21"},{"key":"bibr53-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4159\/9780674242647"},{"key":"bibr54-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/2053951720985249"},{"key":"bibr55-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/3274357"},{"key":"bibr56-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3917\/eufor.357.0091"},{"key":"bibr57-20539517211053712","unstructured":"Kuligowski K (2019) Facial recognition advertising targets customers."},{"key":"bibr58-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.17265\/2159-5313\/2016.09.003"},{"key":"bibr59-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2307\/j.ctv125jgbh"},{"key":"bibr60-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1086\/674301"},{"key":"bibr61-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1109\/BTAS.2013.6712710"},{"key":"bibr62-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1086\/495598"},{"key":"bibr63-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4324\/9781315884424-12"},{"key":"bibr64-20539517211053712","unstructured":"Merler M, Ratha N, Feris RS, et al. (2019) Diversity in faces."},{"key":"bibr65-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4324\/9781315867762-27"},{"key":"bibr66-20539517211053712","first-page":"2045","volume":"13","author":"Oyedemi TD","year":"2019","journal-title":"International Journal of Communication"},{"key":"bibr67-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2307\/40154419"},{"key":"bibr68-20539517211053712","unstructured":"Mozur P (2019) One Month, 500, 000 Face Scans: How China Is Using A.I. to Profile a Minority."},{"key":"bibr69-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1462474508101491"},{"key":"bibr70-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/3306618.3314244"},{"key":"bibr71-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7208\/chicago\/9780226084718.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr72-20539517211053712","unstructured":"Rippon G (2020)\n                      The gendered brain: The new neuroscience that shatters the myth of the female brain\n                      ."},{"key":"bibr73-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1086\/692517"},{"key":"bibr74-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/3359246"},{"key":"bibr75-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/3392866"},{"key":"bibr76-20539517211053712","unstructured":"Schiffer Z (2020) This girls-only app uses AI to screen users\u2019 genders \u2013 what could go wrong? The Verge.\n                      The Verge\n                      ."},{"key":"bibr77-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/09502380601162555"},{"key":"bibr78-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/14623529908413968"},{"key":"bibr79-20539517211053712","volume-title":"Documenting Gender","author":"Spade D","year":"2008"},{"key":"bibr80-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1515\/9780773571242","volume-title":"Labeling People: French Scholars on Society, Race and Empire, 1815\u20131848","author":"Staum MS","year":"2003"},{"key":"bibr81-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/09502386.2021.1895252"},{"key":"bibr82-20539517211053712","volume-title":"The Order of Genocide: Race, Power, and War in Rwanda","author":"Straus S","year":"2006"},{"key":"bibr83-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1215\/01636545-2007-026"},{"key":"bibr84-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s10508-012-9946-2"},{"key":"bibr85-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.protcy.2016.05.150"},{"key":"bibr86-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1057\/978-1-137-51053-2_2"},{"key":"bibr87-20539517211053712","unstructured":"Vincent J (2017) Transgender YouTubers had their videos grabbed to train facial recognition software."},{"key":"bibr88-20539517211053712","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1109\/ICCV.2019.00541"}],"container-title":["Big Data &amp; Society"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/20539517211053712","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1177\/20539517211053712","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/20539517211053712","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,28]],"date-time":"2026-04-28T12:58:24Z","timestamp":1777381104000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/20539517211053712"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,7]]},"references-count":87,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,7]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1177\/20539517211053712"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/20539517211053712","relation":{},"ISSN":["2053-9517","2053-9517"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2053-9517","type":"print"},{"value":"2053-9517","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,7]]},"article-number":"20539517211053712"}}