You are not alone, Dogface - I had exactly the same reaction upon reading the OP!
QUOTE: He said (allegedly) that female medical students “tend to be passive, rather than challenging and questioning.”
Based upon my own personal experience, I have frequently observed that “challenging questions”, by males, is seen as a “positive” thing, but that “challenging questions”, from females is, sometimes, seen as a “negative” thing.
I don’t think you were out of line, IrishGirl. Go, Girl, Go!! 
Depends which irony you are talking about; it’s not quite clear from your post.
If you are saying the irony is that irishgirl, by making her point with the professor, effectively contradicted his generalization, then i agree with you.
If you’re saying that, because irishgirl’s email was “polite” and contained a “disclaimer,” it effectively proved the professor’s point, then i disagree strongly.
Just because irishgirl is polite, and concedes that the professor might have been misrepresented by the media, does not make that person “passive, rather than challenging and questioning.” One does not have to be rude and belligerent in order to be challenging and questioning.
And FTR, i think ya done good, irishgirl.
Sorry, I’ve been away for a couple of days, but I thought I should finish this story off.
Although I personally never received a reply, the professor did reply to his critics via the letters page of the Irish Times.
In which he says that his views were misrepresented, and that giving an interview over his cell phone from a busy supermarket, might, in hindsight have been a mistake.
Just as well I was polite and wrote that disclaimer…