Human Heredity 11th Edition by Michael Cummings

Exercise 6

Males have only one X chromosome and therefore only one copy of all genes on the X chromosome. Each gene is directly expressed, thus providing the basis of hemizygosity in males. Females have two X chromosomes, but one is always inactivated. Therefore, females, like males, have only one functional copy of all the genes on the X chromosome. Again, each gene must be directly expressed. Why, then, are females not considered hemizygous, and why are they not afflicted with sex-linked recessive diseases as often as males are?