This paper investigates the effects of sex and slaughter weight (SW) on growth performance and on carcass and meat quality characteristics. There were 6 treatments arranged factorially, with 3 classes (intact females, IF; castrated females, CF; and castrated males, CM) and 2 slaughter weights (114 and 122 kg of BW). It was found that castrated males and females at more feed, grew faster, and had more carcass backfat depth. Also, compared to intact females, CF and CM had more intramuscular fat and less linoleic acid content in the subcutaneous fat. It is concluded that CF and CM had similar productive performance meat quality characteristics when slaughtered at the same age, and that castration of females improved average daily gain and increased weight and fat content of primal cuts. Therefore, castration of females is recommended for pigs destined for the dry-cured industry because of the beneficial quality effects of the primal cuts when castrated.