Why can’t a woman be more like a man?

Now, women. This column’s for you, so I’m going to keep it simple. Pitch it low. Words of two syllables, max, I promise. You ladies, it seems, have IQs on average five points lower than men’s. Still with me? Sorry for putting in a number, it was inescapable. Damn, that was five syllables. Hang on, syllable is three syllables. I’m confused now. I blame biology and the tiny brain simpering away inside my pretty little head.

Richard Lynn, Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Ulster, is a brave man. In a letter to The Times responding to a lament by Susan Greenfield about the dearth of women in science, the professor came to a stinging conclusion. It’s the stupid genes, stupid.

Women are simply not as clever as men, he wrote. Besides, they have different types of intelligence — men are stronger on reasoning and maths, while women have more verbal intelligence. Thus men are over-represented in the physical sciences and women can make successful newspaper columnists. Gee thanks, Prof.

To judge by the deluge of furious responses from Times readers, women are just a little peeved at the professor’s verdict. Amid the vitriol, however, no one paused to ponder this question: are we more stupid than men? What if the professor is right?
Antonia Senior, continue reading