"Women aren't as smart" VS "Men aren't as smart"

[Bonobo]

In popular culture, which gender do you think suffers from the accusation of being "not as smart" more?

[noamnety]

1. It would depend how you define suffer.

If you mean being the target of some jokes, it goes both ways. Commercials make out men to be stupid, while tv and movies still depict more men as having higher end careers. News shows still overwhelmingly feature men as analysts. Music videos still portray women as bimbos.

If you mean having real life consequences in terms of hiring opportunities because of how the genders are portrayed in pop culture, that's a different story.

[Major Nikon]

2. Opportunity and outcomes are not the same thing

Men are expected to earn more money and the value others place on them depends on their earning potential which is certainly not true to the same extent for women. So if you want to look for cultural reasons why outcomes are different, that would be a good place to start.

Not as many men are nurses. That doesn't mean the media has an obligation to portray as many male nurses as female nurses, and if they don't it doesn't mean that's why men are less likely to become nurses.