12 Comments

Thank you. This was a mature “take” on the sexes. Thank you for posting on Quillette. It appears the prequel must now be read.

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I hope you enjoy it!

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Loved The a Red Queen - a great expansion of the original discussion!

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There's SO much interesting information out there about this topic!

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Why you think high intelligence women don't agree with you? Why does modern feminism try to equate people like Pinker to andrew tate instead of working with them to pursue issues they would align, like reduced work place sexualisation? Is it because by rejecting blank slatism the end point of equality becomes harder to achieve? I am genuinely curious why the smarter and more accomplished a woman is,the more detached from reality their views become on the issues of gender. I am pro feminism and pro women getting educated, but I recently feel awkward noticing that the more educated a woman is the more she is inclined to hold flatearth level delusions about about these issues. I just can't see how this is a pro woman agenda being pushed,conservative women have better mental health than liberal ones, most happy heterosexual couples have a somewhat traditionally gendered relationship. If I had a daughter I would still hope we lived a society that better rewards women who succeed in their careers, but like Bryan Caplan says i wouldn't want her to be a feminist thinking there is a patriarchy out to get her and men try to hold her down. Why is this agenda being pushed by influential and sofisticated people, who should know better

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I don't think there's any single answer. One common reason is that there's social utility in absorbing the beliefs of our peers, even if they're wrong. But I suspect that the bedrock cause is a fear that if we're inherently separate, then we can never be equal — for many, it's more psychologically tolerable to argue with reality than face that challenge.

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"I am genuinely curious why the smarter and more accomplished a woman is, the more detached from reality their views become on the issues of gender."

Great comment. I am curious too and I think the reason (either aptly or ironically) is because of women being more amenable and conciliatory and more sensitive to accusations of inequality/unfairness. When women in educated spaces (for lack of a better term and with some inescapable generalizing) are faced with the claims and demands of the Feminism/Gender vanguard, both their vehemence and their foundational truth (the inescapable role of sexism in history) make disputing them socially and emotionally difficult, as you'd have to face accusations of being weak/treasonous and also have to engage them in complicated arguments (like the ones presented here) that are much more difficult than just giving in and parroting their dogma.

I do find it odd to see so many young, educated, well-off young women acting as if they are being held down by the invisible hand of the Patriarchy (which didn't survive into this century). I think this is also due to social pressure and also helps people blame some external factor for their misery (much like blaming "Society"). Ours is an Egalitarian age and young people have been trained to see every manifestation of "inequality" (sexual, racial, cultural, intellectual etc) as ipso facto oppression, which seems designed to fill them w rage and dissatisfaction.

Hope this makes sense!

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In terms of why educated women, there's also the Orwell explanation that there are some things so stupid, only intellectuals can believe them.

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I might be an exception in this issue but I never feel a great sense of injustice when I am presented with data that people who are asian/Jewish might have a higher iq than people sharing my race or that people who are blonde with blue eulyes might be considered prettier than people who look like me. However the issue that bugs me is why the educated woman with a high salary is more upset with the 'patriarchy' than the migrant cleaning lady. And why is she more likely to dismiss evolutionary psychology as pseudoscience despite the evidence that suggests otherwise, behavior uncharacteristic of smart and literate people. I would assume highly educated people are less likely to believe in religion or astrology. Why is the belief of biological gender differences not like that, especially in high prestigious females. I don't know if you have an answer, but you probably could make a more accurate guess than me

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Oh man, I spent way too many years in Boulder, CO, for grad school, where so many upper class, educated people believe in astrology. But I don't know the actual statistics, maybe that's just a local issue.

I think that the sex binary can be more bothersome than race or beauty, because it is the only one that is immutable. That's why it gets more at the discomfort modern people have about succumbing to their fate (it seems the ancients accepted that as a given, but maybe our technological prowess makes us feel like we should have more control).

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Hey! What’s not to believe about astrology? 😂😉

I’m not really sure that smarter, more accomplished women are actually detached from reality regarding issues of gender. Some might be, and of course many are vocal about succumbing to any restraints they perceive could be imposed upon them if different should ever equate to less than in any way. But in my experience (not vast, but at least of many years), smart, accomplished women more often than not do respect and can certainly deal with and accept the reality and science of gender differences. Maybe less vocal on the subject for a myriad of reasons and therefore less noticed, but not, in my view, detached from reality on this particular subject any more than they would be on any other subject.

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Agreed, and it's so hyper partisan that I think it very much involves a group think + in-group signaling problem. The left has the "coastal elites," so I'm open to the possibility that results in more highly educated women buying into this taboo. But beyond that, at root, I think resistance to having a biological fate is understandable — and to me, at least, the most fascinating part of the problem!

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