Friday, June 18, 2010

Women are not as intelligent as men

A reader took exception to a line in last week’s WND column as follows:

"Women were once respected for their morals, purity, values, strengths, intelligence and vigilance in guarding their reputation. Now they are "respected" for having an abortion. Go figure."

I agree with everything above except intelligence. Its a nicely sentimental, but untrue.

Best, Don

This reader started out signing him/herself as “Don,” but later changed to “Donna.”

Historically she’s correct, of course. So I replied:
“Hmmm - you may be right.”

Embolded, she sent the following email:
Because women should NOT be respected for their intelligence. They have many qualities, but compared to men, intelligence is not one of them. Best, Donna

Curious as to how far she was willing to defend such a position, I replied:
Interesting perspective, and one with which I'll have to disagree. We're just as intelligent as men - but in different areas.

Following is the remainder of our email exchange as it escalated over the next couple of days.

Well, as a Christian woman, I think men are the superior intellect. One of the obvious reasons why they should rule the house and the nations.

But kindly name for me one area in which the female mind is equal to men. Politics, technology, philosophy...what?

Best, Donna

Communication (largely verbal). Relationships (empathy, sympathy). Attention to details (why we make such spiffy keepers of the home). Not "strong" traits, but just as necessary.

Well, lets examine these for a moment.

Communications: If I reflect opon the greatest speeches in history, not a single one was spoken by woman. On the other hand, I can watch any number of talk shows hosted by women, for women, and the conversation is vacuous compared to that of men (even stupid men).

Realtionships: The last 50 years have been disasterous for women (and children) for their failure to understand the most basic rules of relationships: Men don't buy the cow if the milk is free. (Men had a grasp on this from the beginning.)

Attention to details: ?!? You mean like "color cordination" and "cobwebs"! Men simply don't care....thats why they have helpmates...for the little and mundane.

Best, Donna

I find your attitude extraordinary. I don’t believe I’ve ever met another woman who is so determined to find women inferior based on extreme examples of feminism’s ill-effects. You cite illustrations which damn *all* women derived from the rancid achievements of those poor saps who have been suckered into the feminist mentality. This has far less to do with native intelligence than it does brainwashing, in my humble opinion.

I like to think women DO bring some good into this world – yeah, I know I’m weird – and I’m sorry that you can’t recognize that, in which case, we’ll have to agree to disagree. Meanwhile, I’ll continue to admire the women physicians, the women scientists (Jane Goodall?), the women humanitarians (Mother Theresa?) who bring light into this world despite being lowly females.

I never said women were inferior. Nor did I say women don't contribute. I merely addressed one aspect: intelligence compared to men.

But you've demonstrated very well how women cannot keep a coherent argument going. And how when their beliefs get challenged (and unaswered!) they get testy and hysterical.

Go have a cofee with your friends and emote.

Funny, I thought I had given three examples of female intelligence which you then dismissed as inferior. My apologies, I guess I misunderstood. Must be my lack of intelligence.

I’ll be posting these emails on my blog because I think readers will be interested in your perspective.

Off to emote with the weeds in my garden. Have a nice day.

Thanks for posting the emails. It will let many know exactly what you are (all 3 people who will read it).

Best, Donna


Comments are welcome from all three of my readers. It's important to "let many know" exactly what I am.



  1. Intelligence is a slippery thing. I think trying to compare male to female intelligence is a bit like apples and oranges. I think that women by and large are as intelligent as men, in terms of being able to learn and replicate/disseminate information. That being said, I don't think most women nowadays USE that intelligence for anything good, useful or productive. I especially believe women should not preach, teach or lead in positions of authority; primarily religious/scriptural. There are many fine women school teachers and that is not what I am talking about :) You can say the same about many modern men, but certainly not most of them.
    On another note, I did not get the impression that Donna was actually female. "She" seems a bit like a troll trying to bait you into a display of some variety. I certainly don't think any less of you based on your responses and am not sure why "she" thought they would leave a negative impression. And I am pretty sure you have more than 3 readers, lol.

  2. Somehow i get the feeling this a male troll dressed up as a woman. I thought you handled him/her with extreme intelligence. my hat off to you.
    "A Man"

  3. Some troubled troll picked on the wrong lady. Go get 'em, Patrice! {{hugs}}

    Female over 40, Oklahoma

  4. "Donna," if you're still around--Mrs. Lewis did not get hysterical. A wee bit defensive, perhaps.

    Funny you should mention "color coordination" and "cobwebs" as examples of attention to detail. I don't know how it is in the modern workplace, but in times past, many a business man would have told you he couldn't do the job he did without a (usually female) office manager paying attention to details.

  5. Sincere question: Why do we continue to use (quite incorrectly) the words "woman" or "women" as adjectives. As in "women doctors" or "woman scientist". We sure wouldn't say "men doctors" or "man scientist".

    Is there something offensive in the word "female"? Is this just another example of feminism creeping into our vocabulary?

  6. Some people get so contrary! I think she/HE just wanted to win the battle. Clearly you were kind to "it" and 'IT' was not to you. Your anwers were correct. Women are just as intelligent as men. I also tend to think we have a better sence of common sence. Well, most of us anyway. :)

  7. Oh yeah, mom, you sure got hysterical there. You're just a testy woman, far less intelligent then all those strong men out there. You can't even keep a coherent argument going.

    But at least you can spell 'coffee'.
    -Love & hugs, Older Daughter

  8. Wow. This topic is certainly akin to a minefield that requires watching where you step!

    As a NASA "man" engineer married to a NASA "woman" engineer (tip o'the hat to Bob K), working for almost 30 years in an organization filled with many other "man" and "woman" engineers and scientists (as well as administrative and support staff), I can testify from experience that neither sex can claim general superiority of intelligence.

    But individual differences can be quite large; for example, my wife and I excel at very different types of tasks within a project. Somewhat stereotypically, I tend to be better at detail-oriented "knowledge-in-depth" activities, while she is much better at logistical wider-scope "knowledge-in-breadth" activities. But I have seen this stereotype reversed in other couples, and to claim that either predisposition suggests a higher level of intelligence is, well, rather stupid.

    Perhaps Don/Donna tends to only attract dimwitted examples of the opposite sex. If so, that ought to say more about him/her than it does about them.

  9. What? Seven comments???? And I thought you only had 3 readers! Go figure.


  10. A few things come to mind as I read Don/na's

    inferiority issues...
    intellectually incompetent...
    incredibly ineffective ideation...

    ...gets points for being a WND reader, but loses them for being a poor speller.

    A McSp

  11. Offer as much reasoning and proofs as you like, she'll not see it. As soon as it looks like you are winning the debate, she claims your logic proves her Point! Now we know who is intelligent and who is not. LOL
    Extremeists can't be convinced with any amount of logic. A simple high school psychology class will tell you that intelligence levels show no difference regarding gender. A behavioral preference to one field of interest over another is just that, preference, not intelligence or not.

  12. Proud to be one of *three* readers of this intelligent blog. You go, girl.


  13. Intelligence is not a male/female thing. It is an individual thing. Generally speaking, some women have hormones that override their common sense, just as some men are ruled by their sex drive. Doesn't make any gender smarter than the other. I have known both brilliant men and women and, conversely, some totally stupid men and women. If you want to discuss "rational," well that's a whole 'nother story.

    There does seem to be a difference in politics since women started voting, however. Instead of choosing candidates based on information, many women seem to vote based on feelings. That is a poor way to choose "leaders," in my opinion. Certainly there are millions of women who vote based on knowledge and facts, but enough make choices based on emotions to impact the outcome. Obama comes to mind right off. Many women were swooning over him, which is just sickening. Hormones got the better of them, and their intelligence was relegated to the backseat.

    By the way, I've known men who were sticklers for details and hated cobwebs more than any woman I know.

    Generalizations may work loosely, but seldom should generalizations be used to characterize an entire gender, race, religion, or nationality. We are all individuals - viva la difference!

    Based on this comment, can you determine whether I am male or female? Probably not.

  14. Just one of the "three" checking in! Love your blog! Go get 'em.
    Mom of 6 in Oregon with too many weeds and critters to take care of!

  15. I am so sorry Don/Donna felt the need to tell you off. It must be nice to be so deluded in ones thinking that they go around telling others how insipid they are without even knowing it.

    I sincerely hope that Don/Donna is still just a young adult trying to find their way in the world. Otherwise I would be deeply ashamed of what transpired. At least when you are young you have time to gain wisdom. If you are still stupid at 40 then it is just sad.

    Ouida Gabriel

  16. That was amusing. Don/Donna needs to do some research. Google some studies on gender differences in intelligence, perhaps. What she/he will find is that men have a wider range of intelligence - meaning that their bell curve is flatter and wider than women's. There are more highly intelligent men than women, and there are more men utterly lacking in any measurable intelligence than women, which makes it a wash if s/he was really trying to argue that men have a higher average level of intelligence than women. Don/na needs to dredge up the intelligence to use spellcheck, if s/he can't find enough to learn to spell in the first place.


  17. My, what a lovely person s/he must be in real life!

  18. I find it grossly and almost offensively simplistic to compare women and men in such a manner. I know a young woman who is working on a Masters (then PHD) in some sort of complicated chemistry/ science thing I can't begin to understand. I also know guys who are great communicators. Some women are not at all detail oriented and some single guys have apartments that look like they come out of a style magazine. Morals and values vary widely in between individuals of the same gender and area, even family so that is meaningless.

    This particular lady would be well advised to keep her mouth shut in order to not confirm her ignorance in the future.

  19. That whole exchange was funny. Was Don/Donna speaking about herself? Any woman who would put down women so generally is either goofy or not a real woman. I suspect a sex change is in the offing for Don/Donna.

    Has Don/Donna forgotten about such famous and infamous women as Margaret Thatcher Cleopatra? And let's not forget Indira Gandhi, Imelda Marcos, Amelia Earhardt, Evita Peron, Madame Curie, Ayn Rand, Dolly Madison, Carrie Nation, Clare Booth Luce, Clara Barton, and literally countless other women who were daring, outspoken, high-profile, independent, respected, reviled, etc. -- but each was INTELLIGENT.

    MEG in NoCal

  20. I love the response you got on this one. Everybody really wants to shake sense into this person.
    Women, for many centuries, have been taught and encouraged to be unintelligent. The men, who ruled the world because of their testosterone-driven muscles, didn't want to be strong, but dumb. Women played dumb to protect themselves from men. Even my mother (who can see through a brick wall, give enough time) encouraged me to not "upstage" the men in my family. "It isn't lady-like"

  21. Lol...I'm loving these comments as much as the exchange, Patrice.

    How about a little empirical data, Don?
    I'm raising six wonderful, intelligent males, and yet on any given day I'm treated to such scintillating discussions such as how one must pronounce the word "guitar" to be considered acceptable in society--is it "gee-tar" or "gi-tar"?
    Hmmm...not to mention the brain-busting competitions on belly-button lint.

    I'm putting all my bets for college on my lone female child. ;)

    ...and no, I don't think either gender has a majority lock on intelligence.
    ...and I think God planned it that way.

  22. Don/na is either a troll or just plain dumb and comparing its own intelligence to that of some men around her. Lets hope its a troll for its sake.

  23. Fred & Deb MuellerJune 19, 2010 at 6:04 PM

    Dear Patrice,
    It took awhile, but Don/Donna's true intent and personality finally surfaced. She's just another frustrated and brainwashed dingbat, looking for an argument.
    She says she's a Christian. If so, it's time she learned how to act and treat others as Jesus said and stop using her emotions for brains.
    We have 3 daughters. The first was a straight "A" student all through school and college. People told us we were just lucky. That the next one would be more "normal." Well, our second daughter was also a straight "A" student, excelling even better than her older sister, far above everyone else in her classes, including the boys!
    But our daughter is also a Christian. She believes the man should be the head of the household, but like you said, Patrice, brains have nothing to do with gender. There are highly intelligent men and women, and equally highly UNintelligent men and women! That's a fact, whether Don/Donna wants to believe it or not!

  24. Mom, I'm glad to see that twenty seven of your three readers posted there comments.

    Love, Younger Child.

  25. Well, here's another non-existant reader...if that was a man, I'd say, troll.

    If it was a woman, she's pathetically insecure, and has the self esteem of a used mop. Either that, or a woman who is regularly beaten by her husband, and thinks she deserves it, and believes everything he tells her about how inferior she is. Victim mentality, as it were.

  26. Uh.... what number am I?

    Examples of intelligence:
    (14 yr. old SON writing a school paper) "Uh, Dad, what was that President's name again?"

    "Which one?"

    "The first one."

    "George Washington?"

    "Yeah, that one. What was his name?"


    Wife frantically throwing about bed sheets and pillows, seemingly looking for something, while engrossed in a conversation on her cell phone. I observed but said nothing until she said "goodbye" and set the phone down.

    "What are you looking for dear?"

    "My cell phone, have you seen it?"

    "Uh, nope", as I went to pour a strong whiskey.


    Me? Am a faithful reader of WND, Rural Rev and Regular Guy.

    Draw your own conclusions.

    Good work Mrs. Lewis!!

    Steve Davis
    Anchorage, Alaska

  27. i think donna is a don.

  28. Ok, just me ......reader # 3 checking in . Let me sic my rooster on Don/na if she wants to see a fine example of male mentality. He/she needs to learn to not get her undies in such a bunch as life is toooooo short!


  29. Good responses, Patrice. Unfortunately, people see what they want to see and think what they want to think. It's natural that Don(na) would be a bit rude, given the stress he/she must be under about his/her gender identity issues. :P

    CCR (25, female)

  30. Dear Patrice,
    This is from a man; Peter in Canada.
    I have exactly 1 question for Don/na and those who think like him/her.
    How is it intelligent that all "great" wars have been started by men?
    From a religious perspective; G-d "split" man and woman from/down the side, not from a rib (see the correct Hebrew translation), because "He created him male and female, He created them". G-d "separated" them "because it was not good for man to be alone/one" (ie: self-sufficient).
    In order for there to be any "intelligence" Man and Woman must work together to reunite as one (through G-d) to compliment each other. Without this unity we are not complete creations, and therefore incomplete; laking intelligence.
    That's my 2 cents worth anyway; after consulting with my wife of course. ; )

    1. While I admit I'm only a lonely, young and naive college freshman I still can't believe that someone was this....pigheaded? misled? stubborn? I'm not sure what to call her, my head still can't wrap itself around the fact that women are supposedly of an inferior intellect....

  31. Donna... or Donner?