There is no female Mozart because there is no female Jack the Ripper

[Alex Bragi]

...

I've always loved this theory; I think it explains the world I see around me very well.

Spoken like a true misogynist.

Most people I know who disagree with it tend to reject it with the suggestion that historical inequalities of circumstances between women have disadvantaged them so severely that its no wonder there are so many fewer female geniuses. Perhaps! That's the sort of argument that only time can test unfortunately.

Anyone have an opinion?

As far as I'm aware there are no statistics out there to suggest that men, generally, have a higher IQ than women, although it is a fact that women do have a proportionately larger brains than men.

[Virulent]

Spoken like a true misogynist.

Yes, the personal is political, even for anti-feminists.

For what its worth, I don't think that women are naturally less intelligent than men, nor do I think that is what Paglia is trying to say. I think she's trying to say that they're less obsessive... and perhaps genius could be defined as obsession + talent (wherein intelligence is a talent applicable to some tasks).

if that were the case are not then all serial killers geinuses?

I think that's the argument. Serial killers are just geniuses at a socially vilified task. Personally I think that the most infamous serial killers have a similar sort of artistic sensibility to a lot of the great artists, which is demonstrated in the way they pose their victims or place characteristic markings on them. Just as Duchamp described the life of the artist as one of profound rejection, a struggle for societal acceptance, so did Gary Ridgway, the Pentecostal prostitute-slayer colloquially known as the Green River Killer. Warhol claimed that celebrity is next to godliness, Alexander Pichushkin claimed that murder made him feel like a god, as he had power over life and death.

[fetishdj]

I think that's the argument. Serial killers are just geniuses at a socially vilified task. Personally I think that the most infamous serial killers have a similar sort of artistic sensibility to a lot of the great artists, which is demonstrated in the way they pose their victims or place characteristic markings on them. Just as Duchamp described the life of the artist as one of profound rejection, a struggle for societal acceptance, so did Gary Ridgway, the Pentecostal prostitute-slayer colloquially known as the Green River Killer. Warhol claimed that celebrity is next to godliness, Alexander Pichushkin claimed that murder made him feel like a god, as he had power over life and death.

I think they certainly see the world in a different way (and that could be, as discussed above *a* definition of genius) and for many of them the problem is that they are removed from society on an emotional level - the classic sociopath (which most serial killers are) is someone who does not see a problem in removing someone from their path by killing them if they are in their way. Where a 'normal' person may explore legal options to stop a person being a problem a sociopath simply kills them and does not understand the emotional impact this has.

[claire]

...
As far as I'm aware there are no statistics out there to suggest that men, generally, have a higher IQ than women, although it is a fact that women do have a proportionately larger brains than men.

What the statistics show is that on average women are just as smart as men and vice versa. However, the smartest people tend to be men and the stupidest people tend to be men, on a measure of IQ.

The idea of the obsessive personality playing a role in genius, is interesting. I am rather skeptical about those obsessions all being derived from a lack of affection from women or dominance by women. Over the history of psychology, just about every form of mental illness has been blamed on mothers. However, over the years research has always shown that this is not the case. (That is not to say that an abusive or neglectful parent wont cause mental problems for a child.)

The idea that obsession with an idea might lead to discoveries or extraordinary skill, has some merit. Persistence pays off. However, once again I would bring up environment. How many women have been allowed the time to indulge in similar pursuit of their obsessions, over the course of history. Women's traditional roles do not allow the solitary pursuit of a skill, or idea, to the exclusion of all else. As the saying goes - behind every great man is a woman. In other words, some one has to cook and clean and take care of the ordinary details of life to enable the obsessed to single mindedly pursue their goals. Very few women have had that kind of back up.

Even more telling perhaps would be class differences. What proportion of genius come from the lower classes. This is another group that had/has limited opportunities to pursue obsessions.