[XJarhead]

Laura was looking for an explanation why someone could charge such an accomplished woman with being an intellectual lightweight, and concluded that it could be sexism.

I think even that overstates it. She didn't pull a charge of sexism out of thin air. She wasn't even the one who raised the issue of sexism in the first place. She was asked whether gender might have something to do with the opposition. She said yes. What's she supposed to say -- No?

[xzins]

If she had said "no," then she would have been ignoring a reasonable theory.