A new study of the skeletal remains of a powerful Viking warrior reveals that he was actually a she.
The leader, long assumed to be a man, was in fact a woman misidentified because 19th century archaeologists did not consider the possibility of women holding high-ranking positions in Viking culture.
And now one of the websites that promotes the idea that gender isn’t determined by genes, HuffPost, has accidentally admitted that genes do indeed dictate gender.
Swedish newspaper Local reported this week that the remains that were excavated during the 19th century by Swedish archaeologist Hjalmar Stolpe in the town of Birka were subject to new DNA tests, that determined the ancient warrior to be female. She was buried with weapons and armor and horses befitting of other high-ranking military Viking leaders during the dark ages.
Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson, who led the study on the warrior’s remains, described her as being “fairly tall” at 5 feet 6 inches. The female Viking leader’s gender became the subject of some scrutiny after Anna Kjellström, an osteologist at Stockholm University, found that her bone structured appeared to be feminine. The discovery led to the DNA study, confirming that she was indeed a woman.
HuffPost was the one of the first US websites to cover the story, which achieved viral status on social media.
With articles like “Neuroscience Proves What We’ve Known All Along: Gender Exists on a Spectrum,” “Seven Facts About Gender You Should Know,” and “Biology Teacher Expertly Smacks Down Transphobe Who Cited ‘Science,’” HuffPost, has — like many other progressive-leaning websites — promoted the idea that gender isn’t dictated by biology or DNA but is instead an “expression” or an “identity.”
Biology says otherwise. It’s a fact that few progressives are willing to admit, as they promote views by “science guy” Bill Nye, who won an Emmy nod for claiming in a cringe-inducing musical called “My Sex Junk” that sexual preferences and gender “exist on a spectrum,” promoting the unscientific concept of gender-fluidity.
Like Nye, HuffPost is now being roundly mocked for basically saying what the rest of us argued for all along.
Beyond that, the site is also being made fun of for using a picture of Xena to headline the piece. Couldn’t they have at least used a picture of Lagertha from Vikings?
Ian Miles Cheong is a journalist and outspoken media critic. You can reach him through social media at @stillgray on Twitter and on Facebook.
