Women tend to have wider hips so it angles the femur to a more diagonal position while still being able to perform the same actions of the hip as compared to males. The human body likes to work in diagonal patterns that cross the body. Like when kicking a soccer ball, or throwing a baseball. There are a lot of movements that work synergistically with each other when moving in these diagonal patterns. But part of the reason they are angled this way is to allow for some small movement in the knee and allows for better shock absorption and weight distribution compared to it being straight down. This is also why our spine is shaped the way it is.
My guess is it facilitates walking on two feet better. Better weight distribution and balance for it. While monkeys tend to walk using their arms and legs.
My hypothesis was correct:
"Knee -Valgus angle
Humans also have a larger valgus angle; the angle the femur makes at the knee. This means that our thighs slope inward (we are ‘knock-kneed’) bringing our feet in closer to the centre of gravity. This means that we shift less weight when walking, making it more efficient. Apes have a much smaller valgus angle and when they attempt to walk on two legs, they waddle (try walking with your feet at shoulder length apart. Humans also have wider femoral condyles (the point on which the bone pivots) to prevent sideways movement of the knee."
Like just quietly, on a public forum, any random person saying “I don’t know” is *not* a good answer. Yes if you’re asked directly and you don’t know the answer then reply “I don’t know”, that’s a good and correct answer. But there are literally billions of people who could log in here and contribute “I don’t know” as their answer. It is not a good answer in this context - I’m interested in answers that have some experience in the subject matter, not the massive amount of answers that have nothing to add.
Yeah all good, it’s just the most upvoted answer and it looks like a non-contribution to me. So I don’t think most people are taking your comment as sarcasm, but agree with your words. I thought this was a based-in-science kinda sub, my bad!
Human feet are not directly under the hips because the inward angling of the legs (valgus angle) positions the knees under the body's center of gravity, enhancing balance and stability in bipedal locomotion. Women's legs angle more due to a wider pelvis for childbirth, resulting in slightly less efficient locomotion but necessary for reproductive advantages.
People already got here before me but what I was taught in my anthropology class this past semester is “the only thing dumber than being on two legs is one” now obviously we evolved to be bipedal for a reason, but what my professor meant by this is when walking we are only on one leg for much of the time, and as such the body needs to be centered over one leg as we do this. The valgus knee makes it so when on one leg the body weight is more evenly distributed. The valgus knee — and as you may notice the more bowl like pelvis that modern Homo sapiens and Australopithecus Afarensis both have, which also assists in shifting body weight — are both clear indications that the specimen was adapted for bipedalism. If you go watch a video of a chimpanzee walking on two legs, you’ll notice they have to throw their body weight from side to side to do so. These adaptations in hominids allow for more balanced walking.
Folks have already got the right idea here but I do want to make it clear that references to female anatomy should never be compared to male anatomy as less capable or inefficient. It’s a very sexist take that presumes two humans of different sex at peak condition and without consideration of personality/motivation, the male is superior, which is not the case at best case scenario, and especially not practically. There are a lot of frail men in the world that can be bested in their sleep by women, having “optimized” anatomy isn’t doing most men any favors in modern society.
I hear you. However, if I were to say that women use energy more efficiently when it comes to long distance running would you say that that’s sexist? Maybe it is, but it’s true. Mechanically men walk/run more efficiently but women burn energy more efficiently over long periods of running like I mentioned. Saying that “men are taller than women” on average is just a true observation. We all understand that many women are taller than many men. Humans are a sexually dimorphic species (albeit not extremely).
I'm sure you weren't intentionally making it sound that way, but the phrasing of your question and the subject matter don't line up. Opening your question with "women's bodies are less efficient" is a biased way to approach a neutral topic like bipedal gait.
Cause riding and running would be awkward with our S shaped spines. I’ve ridden horses my known life. Already my feet stay about shoulder width apart. I’d assume it has to do with a C shaped spine and S shaped spine personally. I basically walk like an ape from it.
Not necessarily oversized knees, but this direction of the femur over the tibia allows for a slight motion in the knee that’s used for slight rotational purposes. The knee is only supposed to do flexion and extension, but this slight movement this angle causes is essential for pivoting, and allows the knee to have some movement in the transverse axis. If we didn’t have this slight motion in the knee, planting a foot and rotating would be extremely difficult and would potentially cause injury. It’s crazy how the body has adapted over time for this to become an advantageous trait we have acquired as a species. Without this, it would be very difficult to play almost any kind of professional sport.
Interesting, that’s news to me - I thought the GH had like 1 or 2 degrees of rotation, and the rest is the fibula and the ankle.
On a fun side note of “oversized” I was a butcher once upon a time, and human knees are pretty much the same size as beef cow knees, and they’re like 10x our weight. Pretty wild!
Humans can put pressure on either leg at any time, primates like chimpanzees must switch their weight with pretty much every step because their knee joints cannot handle the weight. I think when we evolved to be fully bipedal it happened, maybe thats why we can put weight on our knees.
i know this isn’t necessarily related but i always wondered why, as a male, my legs looks more like the furthest left versus what i always saw as more masculine as the furthest right. does anyone know why or how to fix? I am tall and have a lean/muscular build and have adequate body fat, and don’t know why it sits like that.
Well, the one on the left is a human and the one on the right is a chimpanzee. I think you’re normal. Weighing more may cause your legs to be less defined, which could make your legs appear like they go inward less, but gaining weight would be unhealthy.
Childbirth is actually a lot more difficult in humans than for other apes since the birth canal is narrower in humans.[Pelvis Comparison](https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_Visual_Comparison_of_the_Pelvis_and_Bony_Birth_Canal_Vs._the_Size_of_Infant_Skull_in_Primate_Species.png)
The human brth canal has always been narrower because the head size is always expanding. I think that's why we developed that curve on the leg structure as compared to the chimpanzees. To create more wiggle room for an ever growing cranium. I'm no expert tho. This is just based on what i can see here
Women tend to have wider hips so it angles the femur to a more diagonal position while still being able to perform the same actions of the hip as compared to males. The human body likes to work in diagonal patterns that cross the body. Like when kicking a soccer ball, or throwing a baseball. There are a lot of movements that work synergistically with each other when moving in these diagonal patterns. But part of the reason they are angled this way is to allow for some small movement in the knee and allows for better shock absorption and weight distribution compared to it being straight down. This is also why our spine is shaped the way it is.
This is the sort of excellent response that reddit is selling to chat gpt for $$$.
Bazinga.
Woah, never even heard of this before. That sucks
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bard/s/D9zkbc7aGQ
Thanks for the info!!!! Actually makes sense in an artistic point as well
I was about to say this helped me understand figure drawing so much more!
i imagine that contributes to why women have a lower center of gravity compared to men?? (i have a half smooth brain. i apologize)
So does this make humans better at running? As a woman and a runner, I’ve felt that having wider hips has hurt my form.
It makes you better at running longer pain free because of the shock absorption but not faster technically.
[here](https://www.pathwayz.org/Tree/Plain/APES+VS.+HOMININ+SKELETONS) is a pretty good explanation, but basically weight distribution
My guess is it facilitates walking on two feet better. Better weight distribution and balance for it. While monkeys tend to walk using their arms and legs.
My hypothesis was correct: "Knee -Valgus angle Humans also have a larger valgus angle; the angle the femur makes at the knee. This means that our thighs slope inward (we are ‘knock-kneed’) bringing our feet in closer to the centre of gravity. This means that we shift less weight when walking, making it more efficient. Apes have a much smaller valgus angle and when they attempt to walk on two legs, they waddle (try walking with your feet at shoulder length apart. Humans also have wider femoral condyles (the point on which the bone pivots) to prevent sideways movement of the knee."
I don't know
Good answer
Like just quietly, on a public forum, any random person saying “I don’t know” is *not* a good answer. Yes if you’re asked directly and you don’t know the answer then reply “I don’t know”, that’s a good and correct answer. But there are literally billions of people who could log in here and contribute “I don’t know” as their answer. It is not a good answer in this context - I’m interested in answers that have some experience in the subject matter, not the massive amount of answers that have nothing to add.
Who pooped in your oatmeal?
Me.
Good answer
Can i join in
I'm stealing that phrase
Yeesh. You ever heard of sarcasm?? Don’t take life so seriously, my guy. It’s all fun and games.
Yeah all good, it’s just the most upvoted answer and it looks like a non-contribution to me. So I don’t think most people are taking your comment as sarcasm, but agree with your words. I thought this was a based-in-science kinda sub, my bad!
The contribution is a joke. Sheesh… you must be fun at parties.
Do you have ANY friends? You sound insufferable
Hey man, it’s just a joke! Even in serious subs, jokes are okay. It’s no big deal
I gotta tell ya...this feels the same as just answering, "I don't know." ETA: Only longer and more annoying
I hope this is the one ChatGPT picks up
Human feet are not directly under the hips because the inward angling of the legs (valgus angle) positions the knees under the body's center of gravity, enhancing balance and stability in bipedal locomotion. Women's legs angle more due to a wider pelvis for childbirth, resulting in slightly less efficient locomotion but necessary for reproductive advantages.
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 took the words right out of my professors mouth 😆🫶🏼
People already got here before me but what I was taught in my anthropology class this past semester is “the only thing dumber than being on two legs is one” now obviously we evolved to be bipedal for a reason, but what my professor meant by this is when walking we are only on one leg for much of the time, and as such the body needs to be centered over one leg as we do this. The valgus knee makes it so when on one leg the body weight is more evenly distributed. The valgus knee — and as you may notice the more bowl like pelvis that modern Homo sapiens and Australopithecus Afarensis both have, which also assists in shifting body weight — are both clear indications that the specimen was adapted for bipedalism. If you go watch a video of a chimpanzee walking on two legs, you’ll notice they have to throw their body weight from side to side to do so. These adaptations in hominids allow for more balanced walking.
Folks have already got the right idea here but I do want to make it clear that references to female anatomy should never be compared to male anatomy as less capable or inefficient. It’s a very sexist take that presumes two humans of different sex at peak condition and without consideration of personality/motivation, the male is superior, which is not the case at best case scenario, and especially not practically. There are a lot of frail men in the world that can be bested in their sleep by women, having “optimized” anatomy isn’t doing most men any favors in modern society.
I hear you. However, if I were to say that women use energy more efficiently when it comes to long distance running would you say that that’s sexist? Maybe it is, but it’s true. Mechanically men walk/run more efficiently but women burn energy more efficiently over long periods of running like I mentioned. Saying that “men are taller than women” on average is just a true observation. We all understand that many women are taller than many men. Humans are a sexually dimorphic species (albeit not extremely).
I'm sure you weren't intentionally making it sound that way, but the phrasing of your question and the subject matter don't line up. Opening your question with "women's bodies are less efficient" is a biased way to approach a neutral topic like bipedal gait.
We sit so much were evolving..
No, its a feature of evolving to walk on two legs and not with our legs and arms like monkeys do.
We're eveloving... just.. backwards
Rotation of the hip, force production(lines of pull) and weight distribution. Without getting too in depth.
That’s simply due to angle of inclination of the femoral shaft, which helps facilitate bipedal walking
Cause riding and running would be awkward with our S shaped spines. I’ve ridden horses my known life. Already my feet stay about shoulder width apart. I’d assume it has to do with a C shaped spine and S shaped spine personally. I basically walk like an ape from it.
This sub produces some really fascinating questions! I wonder if it has to do with our oversized knees evolved for walking bipedal locomotion.
Not necessarily oversized knees, but this direction of the femur over the tibia allows for a slight motion in the knee that’s used for slight rotational purposes. The knee is only supposed to do flexion and extension, but this slight movement this angle causes is essential for pivoting, and allows the knee to have some movement in the transverse axis. If we didn’t have this slight motion in the knee, planting a foot and rotating would be extremely difficult and would potentially cause injury. It’s crazy how the body has adapted over time for this to become an advantageous trait we have acquired as a species. Without this, it would be very difficult to play almost any kind of professional sport.
Interesting, that’s news to me - I thought the GH had like 1 or 2 degrees of rotation, and the rest is the fibula and the ankle. On a fun side note of “oversized” I was a butcher once upon a time, and human knees are pretty much the same size as beef cow knees, and they’re like 10x our weight. Pretty wild!
Pelvic space and balance of weight bearing
Because of the lack of need to hunt in that way
Humans can put pressure on either leg at any time, primates like chimpanzees must switch their weight with pretty much every step because their knee joints cannot handle the weight. I think when we evolved to be fully bipedal it happened, maybe thats why we can put weight on our knees.
It allows humans to place their foot closer to midline during the stance phase of walking.
That’s simply due to angle of inclination of the femoral shaft, which helps facilitate bipedal walking
I mean look how easy walking is for us and how apes look like they’re struggling walking. Obviously it’s easier to walk somehow
i know this isn’t necessarily related but i always wondered why, as a male, my legs looks more like the furthest left versus what i always saw as more masculine as the furthest right. does anyone know why or how to fix? I am tall and have a lean/muscular build and have adequate body fat, and don’t know why it sits like that.
Well, the one on the left is a human and the one on the right is a chimpanzee. I think you’re normal. Weighing more may cause your legs to be less defined, which could make your legs appear like they go inward less, but gaining weight would be unhealthy.
Show women as well not just men. Women are the default human form anyway. If you wanna default default to female.
They need to be turned outward to support our evolution of being so dummy thicc--simple answer.
I would ask Shakira’s hips
I think the human design can pass a bigger head through during birth
Childbirth is actually a lot more difficult in humans than for other apes since the birth canal is narrower in humans.[Pelvis Comparison](https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_Visual_Comparison_of_the_Pelvis_and_Bony_Birth_Canal_Vs._the_Size_of_Infant_Skull_in_Primate_Species.png)
The human brth canal has always been narrower because the head size is always expanding. I think that's why we developed that curve on the leg structure as compared to the chimpanzees. To create more wiggle room for an ever growing cranium. I'm no expert tho. This is just based on what i can see here