Is there a gender gap in humor?

[davidfcooper]

In his latest Vanity Fair article, Why Women Aren't Funny, Christopher Hitchens argues that one of the main purposes of humor is seducing women, which is why, he claims, men are better at it, and those women who are funny tend to be either overweight, lesbians, or Jewish (lesbians have the same motive as straight men to be funny, obesity makes women appear butch, and the self-deprecating nature of Jewish humor, Hitchens asserts, is a masculine strategy). He seems to view funny straight, thin, gentile women as exceptions that prove the rule.

Comments

[weret-hekau.livejournal.com]

Now I don't find any of this funny at all. *grin*

I must admit that a good sense of humor has made many a man look much more attractive than he might otherwise look to me. But I think that one has to have a good sense of humor to appreciate that. And comedians aren't afraif of insulting people, so one might go at this from the other direction and say that women are generally too afraid of hurting the feelings of others to be as funny as they might be. But as someone who understands how humor can be used as both a shield and a weapon, I can certainly see why the obese or those who might not feel "accepted" would learn to depend on humor.

[scarletdemon.livejournal.com]

Having done a few (90 or so) gigs as a stand-up, I'd say that women "Aren't as funny" because a lot of OTHER WOMEN refuse to laugh at them. Seriously, I've seen more than one competitive and pretty young blonde fold her arms and GLARE at her boyfriend for laughing at me. It makes gigs just a littlr bit harder and they are hard already.

BTW, as a woman who has been described as "funny"...It pulls men too, they love it. And it weeds out the ones who are too pathetic to risk being mocked.

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

I read that article the other week and was thoroughly unimpressed, as I don't agree with the premise that women aren't funny unless they're fat, queer, or Jewish. If he had argued that men and women are differently funny, or tend to find different things funny, he might have been more convincing, but I just thought he sounded like a chauvinist twit.

Disclaimer: I haven't been able to take Hitchens seriously since shortly after 9/11/2001, when he became totally unbalanced by the War on Some Terrorism, and have considered him a twit ever since.

[wicked-sassy.livejournal.com]

"those women who are funny tend to be either overweight, lesbians, or Jewish...He seems to view funny straight, thin, gentile women as exceptions that prove the rule.

golly, well, this bisexual thin Jewish woman is just stuck in the middle.

LOL!

i really enjoy the things you post, david. happy secular new year to you. :)

[davidfcooper.livejournal.com]

Happy Gregorian New Year to you too, Deena :)