Women Aren’t Funny and Christopher Hitchens is an Ass

hey loser,
you are wrong. Your smokin' hot girlfriend, who is incidently, hilarious, is dumping you.

I am laughing so hard right now.

You heard it here first, ladies...I'm back on the market.

Yeah, that's an interesting link, link between humor and beauty. It's hard to try for beautiful and funny at the same time---being funny entails being willing to look goofy or be unattractive for a minute. And it bears mentioning that if you're overweight and female, you damn well better be funny and sassy. It's like your social responsibility or something.

Anyway. The problem at hand is that for the rest of the day, I'm sure I'll be interjecting lame humor into every conversation in a desperate attempt to prove how funny I am. And for that, I curse you.

Ladies, I'm with you on this one. Let me hear ya!

However, in the spirit of the season, what do ya say we at least come together as one and agree that it definitely took balls to write an article as funny as this.

i have thought about this topic for years. i dated a guy once who constantly told me how un-funny girls are. and, mostly, they are un-funny by the standards of funny. girls/women/ladies are often silly, or they laugh a lot about things that are silly... and i still can say that i know plenty who are funny -- i like to count myself amongst them. what was interesting about this article was the end -- why aren't women funny? what social norms, gender stereo-types have been created that have left women out of the funny club? I like that you pose this in the article but i would love to read the article that answers this question. in fact, i would like to write the article that answers this question. i would also love to hear musings on the topic.

Growing up I remember laughing my head off at Bill Cosby. Then came Jerry Seinfeld. And now Brian Regan. Attended his concert this last year, and almost threw up all over the table because I couldn't breathe. No woman has ever done that to me, except Ellen DeGeneres. Now that woman be funny! So I guess it's a 3 to 1 ratio for me. How's that for scientific?

"what do ya say we at least come together as one and agree that it definitely took balls to write an article as funny as this."

So you are, in fact, reaffirming the link between balls and funny??

Jordan, you ignorant sl#t: For a men to claim that women aren't funny is like the Nazis complaining there aren't any jews left in Warsaw.

You got rid of us. It is quite true that there aren't as many funny women in the media. Because as we said on the radio the other day (or I said while you were silent, marveling how I could be funny and smart at the same time) ... men don't reward women for being funny. You reward us for having large breasts and thin legs. Think of Jane Fonda. the guys loved her as Barbarella. But soon as she started being goofy and sitting on tanks in hanoi, whoa. Call her a communist. Boy is she a handful. now she's a Christian and a communist. Still trying to be funny, that girl.

Seriously, though. Humor is a reaction to suffering. Ask the Jews. Wait ... Norwegians had plenty of suffering they just drank over it. Okay I'm going to write a longer response. And it'll have jokes.

I'm not convinced. Irrefutably true, because you as an individual are familiar with more high-profile men who can make you laugh? Dicey argument, Jordan. And like Loretta mentioned - is it our fault? It took until the 1980s before we had Madonna and Joni Mitchell rocking out (Joni Mitchell, rocking out?) - couldn't humour be the same? It may be the case that women have had more difficulty making it in the world of comedy (and literature, and art, and music...) but I dare say its not because we're not funny. I know a hell of a lot of men that bore me to tears.

I have to say, I admire that you were able to put a Christian spin on it, just to make it relevant to this forum. Falwell and Robertson came from left field (am I citing the correct sports here) and tackled the runner who was carrying the soccer ball to the goal. ;c)

Jessica, I too join you in the cursing of Jordan Green because I too will be desperately be trying to prove I am hilarious to my boss and co-workers prediction: the women will laugh, the men will smirk or laugh politely.

It all brings me back to my childhood where I always wanted to make my brothers laugh at my wittiness, but instead I got pats on the head. Thanks Jordan, thanks a lot for the painful memories.

I know men that bore me to tears, too. A lot of them. They tend to be driven by business-oriented things.

But I don't buy the fact women "just haven't made it" in the comedy world, and that's part of my point. Funny comedians make it, regardless of gender or race. The problem goes beyond comedians...it stems to comedy writers, comedy actors, etc.

Sara, do you really know more funny women than men? Be honest...

Speaking of funny women, there's my friend hannah, who posted two spots above.

She has three older, funny brothers though.

Coincidence?

and once again women are put in a place where they have to defend themselves to men, this time it comes packaged in humor.

i have found myself becoming angry with each post i read. not because one is right or wrong or good or bad, but because even as i posted before and thought of posting again today, i have felt that my post should bring some humor in order to be valid in this discussion. and i know i must ask myself how much of that i place on myself and how much of that has already been placed on me? but is is there no less.

jordan - i agree, you have to be funny to make it as a comedian but i also believe that as a woman, you, in almost any realm in this world, have to work at least twice as hard to do anything other than raise children, teach or be a nurse. and that is a shame.

we miss the glory of femininity and masculinity when we battle for entitlement to most funny or most nurturing. we need both voices, all voices.

I just remembered this story:

My freshman year in college, a group of us were over at this guy's house, and this guy and I were sort of dating. We were watching a movie, and I said something that got a few chuckles. I'm not claiming that it was hilarious, but still, the chuckles. And so the guy took my joke a little further--and butchered it, by the way--just because he couldn't stand to have me say something funny without topping it. Yeah, we broke up.

Jordan, I won't sport with your intelligence or contradict my own argument by listing off the funny people I know and comparing them by social gender. Like you, I am an individual who knows only those people who are within my social circle, and only those big names that I am fed by the media available to me.

Why get defensive? Why fight for most funny? I'm not trying to say that women are funnier than men. We all have our amusing points (Loretta, I love what you said about needing all voices. How very true.) I'm trying to say that your defense of your argument is flawed by its arbitrariness, and likely skewed by the culture you were raised in. You make a blanket generalization in a mosaic of a world, and that's both dangerous and somewhat offensive.

Its easy to say that there is gender equality in North America when you haven't faced inequality by grace of your anatomy. For example, I read an article in Science (published only a few months ago) in which an FTM wrote about having presented identical research first as a female, and then as a male. He wrote that once his appearance and name reflected his gender identity, he was taken seriously.

Humour itself is relative to the listener. My sister loves nursing jokes full of acronyms that I don't care to learn, I like sly allusions. I don't expect us to find the same things funny. Who defines funny? In this case, its your definition that holds up your conclusion. I'd like to tell you that my definition of humour is most definitely different than yours, making your conclusion meaningless to me. We're none of us identical. Did personal or cultural differences in perception of humour cross your mind when you wrote your article?

Finally, outside of stand-up or performance, humour is cooperative. Have you ever said the wittiest phrase of your life to the dullest person imaginable, only to have them answer "yeah"? And have you not hated yourself for wasting your genius on such a moment? You know, that person probably doesn't have you on their list of funniest people ever. Maybe try slapstick?

I don't care if men or women are funnier, I just don't think it will ever be possible to prove either conclusion beyond refute. At least, not without universally agreed upon pan-cultural criteria for funniness, and an unbiased test. I am sorry to inform you that neither exist.

And it seems that Hannah is our mutual friend. I don't see how her three funny brothers are any sort of coincidence - what are you trying to say? She's funny because she rocks who she is and has a big full brain with a Wernicke's Area. Maybe all four of them are funny because their parents taught them witty banter or they rented Uncle Buck every weekend while growing up. I certainly hope that you're not trying to say that her more likely innately funny brothers grew up around her and infused their male funniness into her. Because that would be ridiculous.

Arguing a point I've made is not "being defensive". It's debating, which is what this site is all about.

And I'm sorry, you didn't say anything funny in your post, so you just proved my point unarbitrarily.

Maybe you could get your brother to post something if you have a brother.

I'm sorry, Jordan. I wondered if my use of defensive was ambiguous...by "why get defensive?" I meant "what would be the point of my getting defensive?". My apologies - I didn't mean for you to interpret it like that.

That being said, I now WILL get defensive and tell you about how funny I am. In junior high, I was voted the funniest person (person, not girl) in school. This year someone asked me to be a writer for their comedy radio show. I regularly have people in stitches. My entire rowing team has decided I'm the funniest person they've ever met. Unarbitrary that. I decided to restrain myself from any overt humour (although its there, just under the radar), because I know what I'm worth and I have nothing to prove.

This seems to be getting personal. I've said all I have to say and I'm stepping out (although I will keep reading responses). I want you to know that while I disagree with your argument and conclusion, I don't fault you for your opinion. We know different women (except for Hannah), so why bother trying to prove anything? That's hardly the point, anyway. Maybe you just respond better to male styles of humour, or delivery, or something. And that's fine by me. I'd still hang out with you.

Sara - Until you say something funny, I will always believe that women cannot ever be funny. This is strike two.

I do, however, believe the WNBA is as good or better than its male counterpart, Division II men's high school basketball.

In all seriousness, if you're getting offers to write sitcoms, you need to be writing for us, because we need writers. Badly.

I think that Hitchens' argument is flawed at the outset; he relies on dubious biological explanations (babymaking means life is more serious for women, whereas men are able to 'always look on the bright side of life'), and he describes a social phenomenon whose evidence is anecdotal at best 'count how many funny men vs. funny women you know.' Really? That's the evidence?

Consider Jessica above, who got the laughs that evening - I'm positive the ex in question would say she wasn't funny. Hitchens relied on a vague, flaccid definition of 'funny' - does he mean stand up? writing? on stage? game night at your neighbors'?
Finally, there's the inside joke - In my family 'ten points' is fall out of your chair funny. A summer camp thing.

As one friend of mine pointed out, Hitchens' caveats for funny gals - hefty, dykey or Jewish - also apply to men; how many male comedians look like Jude Law?

Anyone who has to talk about how funny they are and actually uses a high school superlative as evidence... is SO not funny. (And this is coming from a girl.)

""what do ya say we at least come together as one and agree that it definitely took balls to write an article as funny as this."

So you are, in fact, reaffirming the link between balls and funny??"

-Um, yes it was a joke. Ma'am.

CLW, I've been thinking about it, and you're so right! I sound like an asshole, haha. Also, I haven't been funny all day. Maybe I jinxed myself.

Jordan- Did you think about any of this before you wrote it? It seriously sounds like you gave your butt a pen and paper and let it do all the writing for you. Maybe you think Hitchens sounds "right and smart" because you're more like him than you think. And I mean that in the nicest way possible.
What's the point of this essay, anyway? I disagree with Hannah that adding the paragraph about Falwell and Robertson make it relevant to the website. Obviously you can write whatever you like, but I don't understand why you felt the urge to write this under the guise of a progressive Christian website. And, you really do put yourself in the same "ass boat" as Hitchens by writing this.
This stuff is not "irrefutably true." Listen to your friends Sara and Susan, you could probably learn a lot from them.

Great comment, Suzy. I wrote it because it seemed like an interesting article to comment on, and we talk about humor a lot on this site, so it sort of fit.

And you wouldn't believe the contradictions I had in the article in my rough draft...

Susan will be responding the second week of January, and I think you'll like her piece.

As much as I may have been an ass for writing this, I still agree with Hitchens' thesis. Here's why I think it's irrefutably true: if you look at the world of comedy (writing or stand-up, for instance), these are fields heavily dominated by men. You may say this has to do with women not getting equal opportunities, but I don't buy that because there's an arguably larger market for female comedians than there are for male comedians.

Take funny televisions shows like "Arrested Development" or "Seinfeld". My guess is, if you know people who are big fans of these shows, the majority of those people would be male.

On the flip side, shows marketed to women include "The View" and "Grey's Anatomy", neither of which would be considered funny.

Maybe I didn't explore it enough, but Susan Isaacs' article will talk more about this subject in regard to gender roles. It's good, and makes the points you probably feel were lacking in my writing, which is appropriate, as she is a female comedian and I'm just a moron with a 'progressive Christian' website.

I didn't read all the comments, b/c my eyes were beginning to bleed, so I don't know if someone already mentioned what I am going to say.

Yes, generally, women are not rewarded for being funny. I never saw anyone ever ask why that is, though. Most people would agree that to be humorous with words (that seems to be what most people are talking about when they refer to humor) it takes someone halfway intelligent. Let's face it, rarely are men attracted to women who are smarter than them, unless of course they are lazy bums that want the woman to use her smarts to benefit him. But then, rarely are women attracted to dumb men, either, unless they have a need to control the relationship. It's kinda a weird little cycle thing, I think. That's why the woman being funny is a typically relationship killer for a guy.

Hey, I just thought of something! Maybe women don't need to have a genre of something to make life lighter; we already know how to. It's already included in our biology to take things with a laugh and grain of salt. Maybe men are just trying too hard. And other men reward that because it makes them feel like, yeah, I could do that.

That's just a thought.

I never knew humor could be so serious.

Ok, so I was still thinking about my thought above; the one that says women don't need to try so hard.

When it comes to men and women, maybe humor's a little like sex, women don't really need to go looking for it, it just can be there if they want it to be. We can typically just ask the single guy next door, if we really wanted. In the same way, if we really want to laugh, we just have to throw off an inhibition or two and laugh at the traffic or our kitty-cat. Men have to try a little bit harder. The girl next door is probably not going to say "yes, I'd love to!" if offered a proposition. Also, men pay for sex. Men's resource pool is different, so they have to be showy about it or have to buy it. In the same way, men might have to try a little harder or be showy to find something funny. If they can't do that, they buy and imitate, sometimes to learn and sometimes, once again, to be showy.

Not the most refined of analogies, but still decent. Thoughts? Good, bad, neutral, diagonal?

Tina:

I think my wife would agree with you. Humor and sex are almost one in the same. She laughs and laughs and laughs... She doesn't get any of my jokes, but the sex is evidently hilarious.

If the article had been written "Why Men Aren't Smart," I wonder if guys would be so defensive. Not me. I would have agreed almost as heartily as I do with Hitchens'. My wife, too.

You girls get everything else: looks, brains... why can't we have funny?

The above post made me smile. Correct me, ladies, if this is untrue for you, but it seems to me that for a lot of women, the female experience is about proving that you have the right to exist. For some reason, the onus is on us to prove that we're beautiful enough and smart enough and generally awesome enough to justify the oxygen we use. Maybe that's why we're on-average less funny: because our flaws are too threatening to laugh at. In any case, it's unfair, and I've never known a guy who understood that.

So, Jordan, I think that's why you got the, shall we say, heated comments that you did. And I'm sorry that's been frustrating for you - but not really that sorry. :)

Look, I don't think you're a moron. I'm just frustrated with your article. I thought I had found a space where men wouldn't make these generalizations.
Just so you know -your guess is wrong. Most of the people I know who watch Arrested Development are women. In fact, right now I can't think of any guys that I know who watch it and one of my best girlfriends owns the DVDs and watches them every chance she gets and I know a few other women who were very upset it didn't last longer. Most men I know are not funny and the women I know crack me up all the time. But I wouldn't say that means all women are funnier than all men. It just means the women I know are funnier to me than the men I know. And, as far as Seinfeld goes, I think everybody watches it, regardless of gender. I still believe that neither of our arguments are "irrefutably true." This is not something that can be scientifically tested. Funny is an opinion and I believe you are wrong in your belief that men are funnier than women (as you obviously believe I'm wrong in believing women are just as funny). I believe comedy is one of the hardest genres in entertainment for women to get into. I really have no idea why you believe "there's an arguably larger market for female comedians than there are for male comedians." Just because there are more males in comedy does not mean there's a larger market for women to enter the scene. It means women have less seats available to them. And women have to work that much harder to get the same attention.
I have more to say, but I'm tired. I didn't intend to offend you, I was trying to make a point with the ass thing.
p.s. Billy- I didn't know we had "brains." When did we win that? Also, no, I don't think men would be as defensive, but men have nothing (or I should say "less") to prove and, well, I wish most men agreed with you, because we're still trying to prove we have brains.

As a long time subscriber to Vanity Fair, I read Hitchens' article right away. I thought he was right. And I agree, he's an ass, along with a most of the contributers to VF. But what makes you think he's a neocon?? The editor of VF HATES Bush and his admin. of "neocons." And believe me, he doesn't ever let the other side be heard.

Hitchens might be a social liberal, but his column in slate.com, entitled "Fighting Words" is highly supportive of the Iraq War and of neo-conservative foreign policy.

In his wikipedia entry, it says this in the first few paragraphs: 'Hitchens describes himself as "on the same side as the neo-conservatives",[1] and refers to his "temporary neocon allies".[2]'

I came a bit late to the party and I am really surprised at how serious a few of the girls are about being funny. If it is that important I think you're hilarious. But then again I think House is the funniest show on TV. I think men are funnier mainly due to the fact that we don't take everything so serious. To our downfall in some instances. The chicks seem to get all fired up about unimportant things that can't be quantified, yeah I said chicks. I think you just proved my point. So relax enjoy humor wherever you find it and by whomever it is made, my 13 year old daughter makes me laugh more than anyone else and my wife thinks AFV is genius.

This article (and subsequent responses) has been a blessing in disguise for me. For the past few months I've been stressing over the fact that I don't find my girlfriend of almost 2 years funny. I was worried that this was a flaw in either me, her or more importantly, our relationship. I sought counsel from anyone who wouldn't charge me for their opinion. I knew deep down that it wasn't me; I'm funny. I know this because she laughs at me all the time and ..well..I'm male; its in my wiring. I've tried to reciprocate with the forced and polite laugh but if I'm going to marry this girl I need to come clean. I need to be honest. I'll have enough to cover up for later, I don't need to add anymore transgressions. Then, I read this piece. The sun came out and my hair parted the way it should. This was not an "us" issue. It was not a fly in the gelatin of our relationship. This is as natural as standing naked in the chimpanzee exhibit on a cold day in December - she's female, she's not funny. Its amazing what happens and what avenues open when you lower the gate of expectation and love a person for who they are or maybe more importantly who they are not. I'm anxious for the next opportunity I'll have to expose my dumbfounded look of love at her futile attempt at humor. No doubt that will be a special moment in our relationship. A Kojak moment, if you will.

I love the sex analogy above. I love even more that if you speed read my post you may mistakenly think that I e-said I love sex anally. I doubt that comment makes it through the wash. In any event I believe that topic is covered by another article. But my point is that its true; women don't have to go looking for sex but search long and hard for humor. This piece should set you free. Stop looking. Now you can spend more time tanning or working out or whatever. This truly is a day of liberation. As a side note, not only do we (men) pay for sex, we also pay to have you sit across the table from us to show you how funny we are.

I can't even spell thesaurus much less use any of the words in it, but I'll do my best to offer up an analogy to counter an example above. Let's use my place as the parallel to humor. It's cozy and quaint. Neutral walls and floor. I decorated it myself. I may have even looked through a Pier One or Colonial Home magazine. I like what I've done. The girl in (and love of) my life changes it around. A candle here a wall sconce there. Then I see a receipt for throw pillows. Next thing I know, she's butchered my couch! Yah, we're still together.

Just came across this article yesterday, and then today, my male Russian co-worker laughed at something I said, and complemented me on my general sense of humor. So I mentioned this article to him, and he offered up the suggestion that perhaps men are funnier (at least attempt to be funnier) than women because that's one of their primary means of attracting attention. After all, women have many more means of attracting attention in a crowd than being funny. But put a guy in the middle of a group of people, he has to try to use humor to attract attention and kind of "one-up" the other guys in the group. Especially because women are generally attracted to a guy with a good sense of humor... But he said a girl CAN'T be too funny, because then guys don't like them if they steal all the thunder, so to speak.

Interesting theory. And one I might be able to actually live with, as a female.

Humor seems to be driven by necessity. Appreciating humor, like music or art, is human. But developing your speech and delivery to "be" funny is something developed.

While a natural talent is almost always necessary, being funny is simply an art developed for one reason or another.

I remember an episode of MASH where Hawkeye is having to confront his sense of humor, and why it exists. It really moved me, but I think that it's universal. Find the funny person, and you'll find a reason that they had to be funny to get by.

I loved Jessica's comment, "And it bears mentioning that if you're overweight and female, you damn well better be funny and sassy. It's like your social responsibility or something." but would add that it stands for pretty anyone overweight. If you want to be popular or accepted, you need to be funny, which goes back to my development argument.

So new to the site and the comments, but I couldn't help throwing my two cents in. I have to agree that men, in general, are funnier than women and I agree with the people that have stated that it has something to do with our desire to not make total idiots of ourselves.

I personally lack the natural fear of embarassment that protects us from public humiliation. I am also inept at life. This means I have a long list of histerical stories that involve me in my underwear locked out of my apartment or screaming in my kitchen with a flaming paper towel in my hand. Sadly I am not naturally funny, just naturally stupid, and I've only just gotten comfortable enough with that fact to not hire men to tell my stories.

In all seriousness I believe that our(women's) willingness, or lackthereof, to look ridiculous, directly reflects in our funniness. Most of my friends that I consider funny have difficulty with basic, mundane, tasks. Myself included.

Women aren't as funny as men because we're taught to be polite, especially in public or around men. We tend to relax around other women and get really down and dirty. Men, however, are taught to be blunt, bold.

I was raised by a man who was blunt and bold and grew up with five sisters who weren't much different from him. Therefore, all my mother's attempts to instill proper lady-like behavior in me fell flat. I am as bold as my father and that has put a lot of men off! Fortunately, I did find one that thought my wit was incredibly sexy. I totally snagged him off the market, and now we're raising the next generation of bold, beautiful women who can tell a good joke. The first will be ready for the public circuit in about 14 years... Stay Tuned!!!

This is in response to Kelly's comment on Jan. 5.

You're right, in a way. I mean, all a woman HAS to do to get attention in a crowd is wear a sexy dress and get a full hair-and-make-over, then just walk into the room. Men stare lustfully and other women jealously gape. But if a man were to do such a thing (really do himself up something fancy), the general response would be, "must be gay."

Contrary-wise, how often do famous funny ladies come out of the closet? Everytime I make a joke or a pun or a cliche, people will laugh and then look at me like I just came out of the closet. Once, a friend of my husband even exclaimed, "OMG! You're NOT bisexual?!?!?" No, she was serious. I just about laughed my ass off! So, I guess the whole funny/sexy thing goes both ways (baDUMPbum).

And as for defending ourselves over this topic... oh, why bother? Maybe if stop trying to prove ourselves and just be happy with who we are, the world will stop caring and we can all relax and enjoy a good joke.

Lastly, James... good point about Hawkeye. I think the more trauma you've survived, the funnier you become -- laugh or go crazy! Or maybe it's both.

I think there tends to be more funny men because it can get them girls. Women can fall for an otherwize unnattractive guy who can make her laugh, but men are a bit more shallow so an unattractive but funny girl won't get her dream guy. This also explains why most funny comedians are unattractive. I know women find Dane Cook sexy, but I said funny comedians.

Elizabeth S. and Aly Harding you are funny! When you can write and make people laugh thats really good!!!!!!!! Well done.

Jordan has a point when he says Hitchens is correct. When he says he agrees with Hitchens, however, he is wrong. The point to the VF article isn't 'Women aren't funny'. The point is a bit subtler - 'It is assumed they are not funny because men are the arbiters of taste". I would add "and of what is assumed about mainly everything, usually to our (men's) own advantage."

(Btw, there is also the assumption that all the women laughing at men's jokes are always doing it because the men are truly funny, but if you believe that, you're in dire need of taking an interpersonal communication class.)

The presence (or lack thereof) of sense of humor has nothing to do with gender. There are differences in the WAY men and women generally do humor, that's all. To massively oversimplify, female humor tends to be subtler, more complex and collaborative in nature than ours. The things women choose to joke about are also not always the same. Neither is their perspective when the subject matter IS similar. Because of that, a lot of men often do not get female humor, if they even recognize it as such.

Contrary to the amusingly self-aggrandizing assumption, however, that's no sign women's humor is rare or non-existent (the latter often is, and will continue to be, asserted by men who need the comfort of the absurd notion they are superior to half the world's population). It's just a sign it can be different. Often, it's also a sign the sense of humor of the man making either statement is rather limited since the only evidence he has is his own inability to laugh at women's jokes, along with his inclination to laugh at whatever a man does or says that he means to be funny.

Btw, no, observing that the number of female professional comics would have been larger if "funny" was an attribute shared equally by both sexes is not objective evidence.

A statement like that assumes the drive to perform as a professional humorist is even across the sexes. It may or it may not be. Either way, in this society men are still generally encouraged to perform and women are encouraged to shut up. This is of course a fairly recurring theme and not limited to humor. Moreover, we have to assume that actual funny women are "accepted" on the same curve as men. They aren't. Period.

Humor (as defined by men) has a good deal of aggression in it, and women are actively discouraged from being aggressive. They are not "supposed" to assert power, or else they're a "bitch". (Funnily enough, a man would, in contrast, be referred to as "ballsy".)

Until the last 20 years, most female comics made fun of themselves (Totie Fields and Phyllis Diller, for instance). Joan Rivers was a groundbreaking figure in that she made the world safe for smart assed women (safer in theory, anyway), and many actively disliked her for that. To be a funny woman means to be aggressive to everybody impartially, and unless you are already an outsider of sorts (what was it Hitch said, "Jewish, fat, lesbian"?), it can get you ostracized.

The way society (still) is, your only way of testing the theory women aren't as funny as us is to pursue friendships with them. I'm talking genuine friendships, not the kind where the one point on the agenda is to get laid. Don't do it if you find comfort in thinking having being born male is enough to be better at something, though. My stats: For over 40+ years, I've known more funny women than I have funny men. And a great 40+ years it's been.