I'm unsure if fellow NMers have heard about Larry Summers, considering there has been little discussion about the man. Summers is the current president of Harvard University. Anyways, recently, Summers made some inflamatory remarks about the differences between men and women and how the different sexes learn. He basically said that the differences between men and women may account for why so few women enter the fields of science.

These remarks have caused an incredible uproar at Harvard. Many staff members have called for his resignation. Donations have decreased.

Personally, I don't feel that the public reactions are fair. Summers may and probably has a good point. Summers never, ever, said that women are inferior. He merely pointed out that less women pursue a science/medicine career than men. I think that he was only trying to provoke an innocent debate about the innate differences between the sexes and the results of these differences.

I feel that it is unfortunate that some innocent remarks have been blown out of proportion and Summers may be forced to resign.

or it may be a little more sinster than that he may really be sexist

Ain't that the truth. I called someone a janitor once and I got *this* far away from getting my @$$ sued off. Well, not really, but they did get really mad at me. "Public sanitation worker!" they kept yelling at me. Anyways, I haven't heard of this uproar about Summers, but I'm pretty sure people are just getting worked up over nothing. It is true that men and women learn differently. Whereas most women would rather be out making a difference actively (teachers, politicians, etc.), men would rather tinker. This is why you don't see many women auto mechanics.

The problem with what he said is not what he said or how, but the fact that it is politically incorrect. Society is so obsessed with whether what people say is politically correct or not, we become offended at the smallest things.