i don’t think the creators actively you know sat around chuckling about “the silly women” but that said i do think light himself is a bit of nerdy male wish fulfillment, in that he turns all the girls to jelly and can have anyone he wants (and all of his male comrades respect him) and so it’s not so much that they thought that women were dumb so much as they were so overcome with the perfection of their darling hero that it seemed very reasonable to them that all the girls would fall at his feet, even if they’re smart or capable

which is, you know, really kind of dumb

the whole thing gets a bit blurrier if you consider the males that fall at his feet too (mikami, matsuda, and L in a literal sense of kneeling at his feet). makes you wonder what classic male fantasy that’s fulfilling

(no i’m kidding. we all know exactly what fantasy it is)