IT may come as no surprise to many readers, but women have now officially been declared more intelligent than men.
Mind you, it has taken 100 years for them to receive the acknowledgement which comes after worldwide research by … a man.
James Flynn, a renowned expert on IQ testing, came to the conclusion after he examined data from Western Europe, North America, New Zealand and other countries.
Until recently, women’s IQ scores were as much as 5% behind those of men. This led some scientists to claim that men were inherently more intelligent than women. Shame, hiss, boo.
The reasons why it has taken 100 years for ladies to canter into the lead is obvious – education, opportunity, the slow move to equality and support in lifestyle choice.
A hundred years ago when the tests were started suffragettes were still chaining themselves to railings to get the vote while men like Captain Scott could go off and be heroic. Heroines, such as Harriet Quimby, were few and far between.
Never heard of Harriet? This glamorous young American became the first woman to fly across the Channel 100 years ago. Unfortunately, her feat was largely ignored as it coincided with the sinking of the Titanic, which was captained by a man.
Women have always had the potential – Boudica, Cleopatra, Elizabeth I, Joan of Arc, Catherine the Great, Florence Nightingale – but rarely the opportunity.
And there is still a long way for them to go to achieve real equality.
The House of Commons is dominated by men and most of the chiefs of industry and banking are men. And see the mess they have got us into. Isn’t it about time that women, with their superior intellect, took charge and mended the world economy?
I mean, they juggle roles every day of the week, sorting out the family, going to work, cleaning and cooking, making the budget balance at Tesco. They are born to multi-tasking. Men, on the other hand, can do only two things at the same time – watch sport and drink beer.
Women are out-performing men in education, have better social skills and, according to Flynn, have a higher potential for intelligence.
The future, it appears, could be bright. If it’s female.
