The preëminence of the female sex, only seen in certain inferior races of men, and in the infants of the higher races, marks an inferior stage of evolution.
It is the same with the equality of the sexes, which is only seen in little developed individuals, as inferior races and species, young persons, the aged, and in inferior classes of society.
On the contrary, the preëminence of the male over the female represents a superior phase of evolution, since it characterizes superior species and races, adult age and the superior classes of society.
From the moral as from the physical side, evolution appears to have progressed from a state of superiority of the female to that of the male sex; and the stage of equality represents an intermediate stage.
--M. G. Delaunay, "The Resemblences and Differences of the Two Sexes", Revue Scientifique, 3 September 1881. Quoted in The American Naturalist 15, pp. 900-901.
Yeah, Delaunay apparently thought that you could grade the races by the position women held in their society. Apparently misogyny and patriarchy are the signs of an advanced race.
If you're wondering what possible reason he had for believing this, he was trying to explain why in most species on earth the female is larger than the male, but the reverse is generally true in mammals. And since mammals are "more evolved", and humans are "most evolved", he came up with this.
Or he was just a sexist dipshit. Take your pick.
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