Gender & Sexual Characteristics

 
Norns are typically sexually dimorphic.
 
Which makes sense as many mammals have a bimodal gender pattern, some by more an extreme than others.
This means they have two main sexes with different primary and sexual characteristics, that pool in two main groups.
In nature it is not usually this simple, and intersexed and gender variation even within one species/breed are highly documented, but often overlooked or pathologised.

Characteristics in purple are present in both male and female morphs
Pink is for uniquely female characteristics in that breed
Blue is for uniquely male characteristics in that breed

Male norns typically have shorter hair, short eyelashes and horned.
Female norns tend to have longer hair, longer eyelashes and are hornless.
 
It is more complex than this, so here follows and complete break down.

I've mostly studied the main official breeds, but have added a few third party ones to increase the data set, that fit the aesthetic of the original breeds closely.
 
 
 

Females	Breed image	Males
Hornless Long eyelashes No hair Lop ears /w spots Blue eyes   Tapered tail Tan colouring No arm bands	Type 0 or "Banana" These are the least sexually dimorphic.	Horned Short eyelashes No hair Lop ears /w spots Blue eyes   Tapered tail Red colouring No arm bands
Hornless Long eyelashes Medium hair Erect ears Brown eyes   Puff tail Red colouring Two arm bands	Type 1 or "Pixie"	Hornless Short eyelashes Medium hair Lop ears Blue eyes   Puff tail Blue colouring Two arm bands
Hornless Long eyelashes Long blonde hair Bat ears Brown eyes   Tapered tail Chocolate colouring No arm bands	Type 2 or "Horse"	Horned Short eyelashes Mohawk brown hair Bat ears Brown eyes   Tapered tail Chocolate colouring No arm bands
Hornless Long eyelashes Long white hair Bat ears Green eyes   Golden tail Red colouring Fluffy arm bands Fluffy belly band	Type 3 or " Santa" (female & young by Greg Poehlein)	Horned /w hat Short eyelashes Mohawk gold hair Bat frosted ears Green eyes   + beard & eyebrows   Golden tail Red colouring Fluffy arm bands Fluffy belly band
Hornless Long eyelashes Long hair Pink bat ears Purple eyes   + makeup + shoulder pads   Puff tail Purple colouring 1 gold arm band	Type 4 or " Mountain"  These are the most sexually dimorphic.	Horned Short eyelashes Short hair Brown bat ears blue-green eyes + shoulder fur + bald at elderly   Puff tail Purple colouring 1 pink arm band
Hornless Short eyelashes Short hair Round ears ? eyes   2 blue arm bands 2 red leg bands hip spots	Type 5 or "Forest"	Hornless Short eyelashes Very short hair Pointed ears ? eyes + freckles 2 green arm bands 3 green leg bands + hip spots
Hornless Short eyelashes Very short hair Erect ears Blue eyes   No arm bands	Type 6 or "Ron"	Hornless Short eyelashes Very short hair Erect ears Amber eyes   No arm bands
Hornless Long eyelashes Ear tufts Big ears ? eyes Tapered tails  1 orange arm band 1 orange leg band	Type 7 or "Snow" (by Greg Poehlein)	Horned Short eyelashes Ear tufts Big ears ? eyes   Tapered tails 1 blue arm band 1 blue leg band
Hornless Long eyelashes Long hair Bat ears Brown eyes   Puff tail No arm bands	Type 8 or "Wood" (by Sandra Linkletter)	Horned Short eyelashes Very short hair Bat ears ? eyes   Puff tail No arm bands
Hornless Long eyelashes Short blue hair Bat ears Green eyes   + red arm band + red hip spots	Type 9 or "Cheri" (by Nello)	Horned Short eyelashes Short red hair Erect brown ears Teal eyes    + blue arm band + red hip spots

 
 

 
Summary

After studying the ten example breeds, certain patterns have emerged.

Eight of the ten breeds have longer eyelshes for females and shorter eyelashes in males.

Seven of the ten breeds have horned males and hornless females.

Only 3 breeds have ears that are sexualy dimorphic in shape, and 3 are sexually dimorphic in colour

Five have different hair lengths & styles, four have sexually dimorphic hair colour, but five are near identical style & colour across the sexes.

There was an earlier study I did on some norn breeds with related information.
Click on the image below for a bigger version:

In reality, not all females are feminine and not all males are typically masculine.
Additionally there is a significant minority of people born with bodies and/or brains between the sexes,
Some of these peoplechange their bodies with medical therapy to better allign their bodies to their brain gender.

Some norn breeds have been created by third parties to demonstrate the sexual and gender minorities.
More information can be found here and specific information on my Transgendered norns can be found here

Here is a link to some photos and diagrams on this subject that
I collected/made whilst studying biology & philosophy at uni, for a dissertaion.
 
*NSFW*