From: usenet2@vyznev.invalid   
      
   On 2008-12-07, Suzanne Blom  wrote:   
   > "David Friedman"  wrote in message   
   > news:ddfr-B60318.11265306122008@newsfarm.ams.highwinds-media.com...   
   >>   
   >> You defended someone else's claim that we were saying that women are   
   >> more stupid than men by a response which either implied that you didn't   
   >> know (or care) what we said, or that you were willing to distort the   
   >> meaning of "more stupid" in order to defend the claim.   
   >>   
   >> It's obvious that some women are more stupid than some men and some men   
   >> are more stupid than some women. The claim "there are more very stupid   
   >> men than very stupid women, and more very smart men than very smart   
   >> women" doesn't translate as "women are stupider than men."   
   >>   
   > For all practical purposes it does.  If women are never as smart as the   
   > smartest man, then one has a justification for not hiring them for jobs   
   > requiring high intelligence, for discriminating against them in letting them   
   > into colleges, etc, because, after all, "the poor dears won't be able to   
   > cope at the highest levels anyway."  Saying, "Oh, but the average is the   
   > same" just doesn't cut it.   
      
   That sounds like a remarkably elitist position.  You're essentially   
   saying "Oh, screw the majority of the population, they don't matter   
   anyway.  All I care about is the top percentile."   
      
   About the most charitable interpretation I can muster is that you're   
   only ascribing the tendency to focus on the highest levels to _other_   
   people, and claiming that, if women are perceived to be less often   
   among in the top percentile, this will lead to fewer opportunities   
   offered to _all_ women.  Which is a view I can almost sympathize with.   
   Still, you seem to be willfully turning a blind eye to the other side   
   of the effect, as pointed out by David, which is that the larger   
   number of men among the _least_ successful fraction of the population   
   (such a prison inmates) could certainly be expected to create negative   
   perceptions against men.   
      
   It does seem likely that the "glass ceiling" and "old boys' clubs"   
   exist, and are a real impediment to women entering high-ranking   
   positions.  However, it's also worth keeping in mind that well over   
   99% of people, regardless of sex, could not care less, since they have   
   essentially zero chance of getting into any such high-ranking   
   positions anyway.  What most people care about is how likely they are   
   to keep their low-to-medium income jobs when the economy takes a dive,   
   or maybe get a raise when things are looking up.  That's where the   
   real injustices and discrimination that affect most people are.   
      
   --   
   Ilmari Karonen   
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