Maybe they could get Ben Barres to check their work for them?
In the peer reviewer's defense, the paper in question was entitled "Male biologists have small dicks."
Big WTF to the editor, too, who felt that the review was worth forwarding to the authors.
I don't see what the big deal is here. Their own research indicated that men get more other-author papers published. The reviewer was obviously just endorsing their research, offering a theory for what they found, and recommending that they follow the logical consequences of that theory by adding a male author.
I really love the thing about how male PhD students do better because they have more stamina.
... Laydeez
My reaction was "holy shit" as well although I've heard much worse from academics so I guess this shouldn't surprise me so much.
I've seen weirder substantive reviews, but that shit is either next-level trolling or a form of Shearer-esque mental blindspot.
5 gets it right. One person thinking it was ok isn't so surprising, you can get one reviewer who thinks just about anything, but getting two people who thought it was ok is pretty shocking.
I get the impression that most editors don't really read the reviews, they just look at the "accept/don't accept" recommendation and forward the comments.
But the burden of whiteness is this: You can live in the world of myth and be taken seriously
That's Ta-Nehisi's line.
Maybe this also applies to men.
I don't think I fully understand your second point in the OP, heebie. Is it that you think the reviewer is dumb for voicing such ugly sentiments? IME, people who say things like this aren't dumb, in the sense of failing to predict the outcry that will result -- they're quite rational.
They know they aren't going to suffer any meaningful consequences from voicing their prejudices, and indeed they don't. They throw in phrases like "As unappealing as this may be to consider" not because of sensitivity to how awful they may sound, but because it allows them to preserve a more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger patronizing tone.
*Actual quote from the review, for those who haven't clicked through.
(Why yes, I am procrastinating on tomorrow's presentation and major report deadline, thank you for asking. In my defense, I've already had a 12-hour day. Plus I'm a woman, sooooooo....what was that about stamina? My ladybrain forgot already.)
Dear reviewer: It would probably also be beneficial to find one or two female human beings to work with (or at least obtain normal social interaction from, but better yet as friends), in order to serve as a possible check against interpretations may sometimes be drifting too far away from empirical evidence into really stupid, sexist dumbassery.
Why is there so much corruption and hypocrisy throughout the world?
I have the same reaction as heebie. Since I'm a bad person, it's usually my first reaction.