average man required half the mental agility and readiness of
resource of the work of the average prostitute, the average man
would be constantly on the verge of starvation.





5.


The Thing Called Intuition


Men, as every one knows, are disposed to question this superior
intelligence of women; their egoism demands the denial, and they
are seldom reflective enough to dispose of it by logical and
evidential analysis. Moreover, as we shall see a bit later on, there is
a certain specious appearance of soundness in their position;
they have forced upon women an artificial character which well
conceals their real character, and women have found it profitable to
encourage the deception. But though every normal man thus
cherishes the soothing unction that he is the intellectual superior of
all women, and particularly of his wife, he constantly gives the lie to
his pretension by consulting and deferring to what he calls her
intuition. That is to say, he knows by experience that her judgment
in many matters of capital concern is more subtle and searching than
his own, and, being disinclined to accredit this greater sagacity to a
more competent intelligence, he takes refuge behind the doctrine
that it is due to some impenetrable and intangible talent for guessing