Women are Dumb?

One dumb woman - Charlotte Allen - seems to think so. I can't believe the Washington Post published this. Nor can Katha Pollitt (read her article; it's great). The lack of cogent logical argument is enough for me to use this as an extra credit assignment for my Intro Logic students - find all the fallacies! One big (non-logical) contradiction that makes me really wonder about Allen's piece, though, is if she really thinks she's that stupid, and that women should

relax, enjoy the innate abilities most of us possess (as well as the ones fewer of us possess) and revel in the things most important to life at which nearly all of us excel: tenderness toward children and men and the weak and the ability to make a house a home.

why is she bothering writing for the Post? Women like Allen embrace this practical contradiction all the time. Phyllis Schlafly is a perfect example. She's out writing books, giving talks, writing columns and running an organization with the sole purpose of telling women that they should be at home rubbing their husband's feet. Don't these women see this? Oh, wait, I forgot. They are women. And women, we know, can't do logic.

Some other responses to Allen. And a Q&A with her on the article. The Q&A reveals just how misinformed and crazy Allen really is.