"The better sort" and "gifted" could mean those women with the will and bravery to ignore the social stigma rather than the intelligence that you are implying.

"The better sort" and "gifted" could mean those women with the will and bravery to ignore the social stigma rather than the intelligence that you are implying. It read to me like he was insulting women who choose to not act this way rather than implying the gender was genetically unable to do so.