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Hi all

Theories come and go but clearly there was some conspiracy to keep the truth from the masses with this one. The brilliant Dr Mitchell was ignored and probably ridiculed by others (probably those damn Americans who of course have no sense of what's proper) who had more self serving agendas to their theories of education and gender.

THE EVIL EFFECTS OF HIGHER EDUCATION FOR GIRLS— ACCORDING TO DR. S. WEIR MITCHELL T. E. C. Jr. M.D.
PEDIATRICS Vol. 48 No. 2 August 1971, pp. 247

During the latter half of the nineteenth century most physicians in this country were convinced that girls should not undergo the same rigorous scholastic programs as boys their age. The explanation usually given was that too much stimulation of the girl's brain would cause dire effects on the "female organs." The simplistic explanation went as follows: "The nutritive demands of the stimulated brain would jeopardize the nutritive needs of the girl's reproductive organs." This would cause not only disabling "female complaints" but bad health in general.

Dr. S. Weir Mitchell (1829-1914) vividly expressed the commonly-held view of the harmful effects of nineteenth century female education in these words:

"Worst of all, to my mind, most destructive in every way, is the American view of female education. The time taken for the more serious instruction of girls extends to the age of eighteen, and rarely over this. During these years, they are undergoing such organic development as renders them remarkably sensitive... To show more precisely how the growing girl is injured by the causes just mentioned (forced and continued study at the sexual epoch) would carry me upon subjects unfit for full discussion in these pages; but no thoughtful reader can be much at a loss as to my meaning... To-day the American woman is, to speak plainly, physically unfit for her duties as woman, and is, perhaps, of all civilized females, the least qualified to undertake those weightier tasks which tax so heavily the nervous system of man. She is not fairly up to what Nature asks for her as wife and mother.


Ah! Halcyon days eh?
If only women would stay at home and do what they are told, how much easier it would be for the rest of us. With the added bonus of solving the problem of unemployment. Get thee back to thy kitchens evil ones.

LoL Dave

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Descartes seems to consider here that beliefs formed by pure reasoning are less doubtful than those formed through perception.