Because he was in academia fairly recently. You can't sneeze without meeting some gender weirdo.

But in all honesty they aren't all bad people. There are smart but weird people who aren't extremely unpleasant to be around, but they are pretty rare.

It isn't a big deal in the grand scheme of things. I think Vance is a really smart guy and when you are really smart you tend to get along well with other people who are really smart just because you have that connection. Just another possible explanation.