Surprise! This beautiful woman is actually smart too!

Stereotypes are deeply woven into our belief system. One of them being that it's rare to find an intelligent brain in a female body.

I was at a lecture with a roomful of professional women. The male speaker asked a question, to which a woman gave a thoughtful response.

The speaker seemed surprised and said, "Ms. -- told me I would be speaking to a group of smart women!"

Later I thought to myself, "If the situation were reversed, would a female speaker look surprised at an intelligent response from a man and made a comment like, 'I was told I would be speaking to a roomful of smart men.' ?" I don't think so.