Can Women Be Funny?
 

This is not meaning to be sexist, but over my years I've found that men always seem to find other men funny, specially when doing talks/speeches. Women don't often seem to get the same natural response.

Hell yes, of course women can be funny...and what kind of sexist question is that?!?

;)

This is actually a very interesting question to me, Vanilla, because I just read an article that said essentially that "men tend to be the ones who make jokes and women tend to be the ones who laugh at them," possibly because funny men compete for a woman's attention during mate selection. Here is a preview of the article in Scientific American: The Humor Gap: Men and Women See Laughter Differently in Romance: Scientific American

Yes, I read Scientific American in my spare time. :rolleyes: As if anyone had to wonder about that.

I tend to view such sociobiological claims with skepticism, but at least the researchers did provide some data based on studying women and men's responses to humor and gender.

The article went on to say that men supposedly don't feel a funny woman (a comedian, for example) is more desirable because of her sense of humor, but women tend to really like funny men. I know finding someone who "made me laugh" was really important in a mate, so maybe there is some truth to that. When all else fails, at least if he makes me laugh something is working! Maybe men don't look for humor in women as a top priority? Maybe they look a little lower? ;)

However (says the article), once *in* a relationship, men really value a woman who uses humor to help relieve tension. This ability, by the way, is my one biological asset, and is probably the main reason I was able to remain humorous throughout the rising tension of numerous failing relationships.

I find women and men to be equally funny! So I voted yes.

I went for the sexist no option. :D

I went for sometimes :p: Some girls use a lot of humor and are hilarious. I know a few .. I know many more guys who fit that description though! Not just because I have more guy friends, but that's a general impression I have.

men and women just laugh at different things. my wife simply doesn't appreciate 'male' humor - Big Lebowski for example. she can go though the whole film without so much as a chuckle or guffaw. same with Monty Python.

on a similar note, i can suffer through an episode of Sex and the City or Friends and fail to see what makes it even remotely comedic.

Big Lebowski is hilarious, as is Friends. I never knew Friends got so much stick from males until I joined this forum. I thought everyone loved friends. :(

Its a sometimes from me too.

I have had this discussion countless times over the years. Once of my friends even made a Facebook group titled "Women aren't funny" which has generated a lot of hatred towards him via posts and private messages. Some people really cannot take anything lightly at all as it was certainly clear that it was intended to be taken lightly and as a bit of fun.

I think there is SOME truth to it but its not a definite. To claim that women are not funny under any circumstances would be a ridiculous statement to make, in my opinion, but I do think that overall women are not as funny as men.

I'm a big fan of comedy. I enjoy stand-up and i watch too many sitcoms and off the top of my head I can think of three women who I would describe as genuinely funny, from what it is i watch. Not on the verge of being funny, not sometimes funny but genuinely very funny people. That's Jessica Stevenson, Tina Fey and Julia Louis Dreyfus. Of course there are more than just these three but as i said, this is entirely based on what i watch. I also have known women who are genuinely hilarious, just not very many to be honest.

I don't know the reasons why but I find a LOT more men to be funny than i do women. 99% of my favourite comedians/comic actors are men.

It isn't a rule, I can't possibly vote 'no' on this but I sure as hell can't vote 'yes' either.

Are they so thick they can't see they're only backing up HIS point? They're so unfunny, they can't even recognise a joke and they take it deadly serious.

Thank you! What a great example of people being funny. Rachel and Monica were definitely funny. Pheobe was just stupid.

The people who wrote their lines were probably men. :p:

And I agree! Pheobe was the worst Friend.

Chandler FTW

Y"ou think I'm funny don't you? What do you know? You're a door. You only like knock knock jokes."