The REAL Gender Gap

The Associated Press had this today about the upcoming Saudi Arabian elections, the first in that nation's history:

from an Associated Press article via Yahoo! News:

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Women may neither vote nor run in Saudi Arabia's first nationwide elections, the government announced Monday, dashing hopes of progressive Saudis and easing fears among conservatives that the kingdom is moving too fast on reforms.

Some women considered the move yet another indignity in a country where they need their husbands' permission to study, travel or work. But others said they wouldn't trust themselves to judge whether a candidate is more than just a handsome face.
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Now, I know that maybe there are some women in Saudi Arabia who aren't trained to look beyond the pretty face of a man. But it would seem to me that it's still a poor reason to deny them a vote, as that's not going to change without them earning the right to vote sometime, anyway.

Besides, while we'd like to believe that democracy involves making informed decisions, it often doesn't...and that's okay. There's no right or wrong reason to vote for a candidate. Right, Phoebe?