Bolivia President Evo Morales Praises Women's Intelligence, Says It 'Hurts Me as a Man'
Although Bolivian President Evo Morales is known for making sexist remarks, he changed his tune on Monday when he painfully admitted that "women are more intelligent" than men.
Morales made the comments in the city of El Alto to mark the beginning of the second semester of the school year in his county, according to EFE.
"I don't want to annoy men, but I'm seeing that women are more intelligent. It hurts me as a man, but it's true," he said.
Morales went on to say that when he was a union organizer in the province of El Chapare, he noticed that girls were disproportionately honored with high achievement student awards during ceremonies at the end of the school year, reports La Opinion. He also noted that female high school graduates won government grants from their excellent academic records more often than boys.
Morales' latest remarks greatly contrast with the macho comments that he has made in the past.
During a speech last month, Morales blamed women for not being in charge of governing the country, calling them "capricious little things" who fight amongst themselves. He said that if they weren't, then they would run Bolivia because they are more honest and "work harder" than men, reports the Huffington Post.
In 2013, the unmarried Latin leader told Bolivian magazine Oxígeno that "the woman for a man is the substitute for his mother" because women are "affectionate and look after the food."
Despite his views on women, Bolivia has a high level of femal elected officials as women make up 53.1 percent of the lower house of Bolivia's national legislature and 47.2 percent of the national Senate. In addition, in 2014 Bolivia was noted for having the second-highest percent of women in congress of any country in the world, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
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