The San Francisco Chronicle ran an editorial yesterday whose title (What women should want -- Politically correct is tiresome tyranny) made me suspicious.

But half way though I was like, why was this titled so obnoxiously?

As International Women's Day approaches on Tuesday, let's face it, women are not just kinder and more gentle, which are often considered feminine traits, they are also more honest, less sexist, less racist and less ageist. They are just plain better human beings than men.

Quick, think of 10 individuals who have ruined, just in the last 60 years alone, the lives of countless millions of people: Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong, Kim Il Sung, Idi Amin, Fidel Castro, Pol Pot, Slobodan Milosevic, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden ... well, you get the idea.

Police statistics worldwide confirm that men commit 10 times as many crimes as women, both violent and commercial.

When was the last time you heard about a gang of women holding up a bank and pistol-whipping an elderly guard, whose only defense was a newspaper and a coffee cup? How many professional female assassins have you read about? Or hijackers? Or female mass murderers? Janet the Ripper? I don't think so.

Women are not only far less likely to whack you over the head for your watch, or juggle the books in your office, they are also harder-working and more responsible.

In interviews with scores of factory managers, corporate presidents, restaurant managers and industrial bosses in places as far afield as Tokyo and Tashkent, Northern Ireland and South Africa, Sydney and Shanghai, I have been told repeatedly that women report on time, stay later and are more quality- conscious than men.

It's no fluke that the only person to come out with any honor from the slimy Enron scandal with any honor happens to wear high heels.

Of course, women do have some minor, irritating traits. Like almost always being right: "Put on a sweater or you'll catch a cold. ... Don't get drunk at the office party. ... I think we should turn left here. ..."

Yet, compared to the myriad venal and stupid habits of men, everything from murder to walking with muddy shoes on a new carpet, women are virtually divine creatures.

So what's the PC beef?

This kind of thinking has given us words like "chairperson" and "humankind" but, really, what has it done for the welfare of women anywhere?

Is it possible, though, to be a genuine, heartfelt feminist and still refuse to pander to political correctness?

Is it really so terrible to believe that women should have the same rights, salaries, opportunities and benefits as men -- yet still feel comfortable, even compelled, to give up your seat for a woman carrying too many bags on a bus?

Is it really so gauche to admire the professional skills and talents of a female boss or colleague, and still compliment them on the fragrance of their perfume? Where is it written that giving a woman a compliment -- a sincere one -- is some kind of belittlement?

Certainly, this can't be true if it is genuine praise, for the difference between a sincere compliment and manufactured flattery is the chasm between a wooden leg and a real one.

Abraham Lincoln once said: "A woman is the only thing I am afraid of that I know will not hurt me." I cannot recall ever once being censured by a woman for holding open a door or even saying that she looked really smashing in that little black dress at the Christmas party.

But now I'm told that here in the United States appreciating a woman with an admiring smile or a kind word constitutes some form of sexual harassment. How sad for them. How sad for us.

Now, I don't know if this is all just angling for the right to talk dirty to random women. I do know there's a lot of truth in the above quotes...but I also know it's not that easy to admire your boss' skills while thinking that dress makes her look hot. Even harder with a colleague.

We need to account for the difference between public and private space in our codes of behavior (yes, we have codes of behavior). We don't need to deal with your private behavior in the public space...the world is not your oyster, it's our oyster bar and no one wants you there if you're all farting while filling your plate.

But you don't need to deal with our public restrictions (yes, they are restrictions) in your house. I mean, you can have stuff going on in your house that impacts the whole of society (can you say "crystal meth lab" boys and girls? Suuuure you can...). To say society has no interest in your private plans to fuck up public space is just ignorant. But I don't care if you hate being around my Black ass as long as I get the right change back when you serve me my hamburger.

Now, there are moments of private space that pop up in the agora...that's how all that extra-marital sex happens. And there are friends with whom you have broader limits. But if you can't tell when it's time to be respectful...with women, with Black folks, Chicanos, Asians, Jews...you really don't deserve to get paid or laid and I really have no sympathy for you.