I have a tendency to burst into spontaneous laughter when I read something funny. This amused my mother, irritated my father and baffles my husband to no end. As to my sons, they just roll their eyes. As they also do, incidentally, when I crack some jokes myself; the Heuer-Humor, as they call it, seems to be the kind that elicits, if any at all, amusement with a side of head shaking.

If you look at the scientific literature, this turns out to be true for women’s attempts at humor in general. Men don’t laugh as much at women’s jokes as women do, and certainly not as much as women laugh at men’s jokes. The gender differences are striking. If asked what is desirable in a partner, both genders give high value to “having a sense of humor.” Except that they mean two very different things: women want a man who can make them laugh, men desire women who laugh at their jokes.

Here is the long argument – my summary below:

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/11/plight-of-the-funny-female/416559/?utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_content=5bf662079ac56400011d1fc9_ta&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR1mG0QaQcnRb9y7m7XHxefbRyJehreLajvWiFHhxYes7VG31FgEc1hmhvI

Why should that be? Evolutionary psychologists (yes, that line of psychology seems exempt from extinction) have some handy explanatory moves: Humor is linked to intelligence (true fact: there is a correlation between IQ points and ratings of funniness in men.) Women want smart men (the old supporter theory,) therefor they go for funny. Men don’t like women to be smarter than themselves (indeed those correlations are also established) and so avoid the comediennes among us.

If you observe men and women in social settings, not only do women laugh more, but they do so with increasing frequency if men are nearby. This is the kind of laughter by the way, that researchers called “posed” in contrast to the spontaneous laughter that cracks you up, whether in company or not. These two kinds of laughter have distinct physiological profiles that we can measure, and also allow us inferences about the social function of posed laughter: as a tool for communication, support, social cohesion, mating and – alas, – condescension and exclusion, when people get laughed at rather than with.

Men try harder at making jokes and more often; even if they fall flat repeatedly –  eventually they get better at it. We women, who do not get rewarded for being funny, on the other hand, give up trying early on and so never develop the ease or repertoire necessary to make people laugh, regardless of gender.

Lucky for us, however, not all of us do give up. Some have the courage, determination and talent to become outstanding stand-up comics. You can go see for yourself: we have one of the funniest (and as it turns out most incisively intelligent, sarcastic and wise) female performers coming to town this week, with several shows to choose from. Penny Arcade, the NYC icon of irreverent political humor, is back with a variety of skits.

November 29-December 1, 2018
Venue: Imago Theatre, 17 SE 8th Ave, Portland

• November 29—The Faghag and Her Friends in the Summer of Love (work-in-progress) – 7:30pm
• November 30—Longing Lasts Longer – 7:30pm
• December 1—Longing Lasts Longer* – 7pm
• & The Girl Who Knew Too Much (work-in-progress)* – 9p
• Tix here:https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/cal/34673

 

I saw Longing Last Longer earlier this year and share Portland City Commissioner Chloe Eudaly’s assessment: “I laughed, I cried, I remembered, I dreamed, I longed, I saw the light… There shouldn’t be an empty seat in the house!”

This time I look forward to The Faghag – a trip down memory lane of the 1960s gay bars in New York and P’town.  Let’s hope my laughter doesn’t interfere with my camerawork…..

Here is a (longish) piece on the artist’s background and philosophy ever since her years as part of Andy Warhol’s entourage: https://www.thedailybeast.com/warhol-stonewall-and-where-lgbtq-activism-went-wrong-penny-arcade-takes-center-stage

Portraits were taken this February. Link below is a TED talk on the different kinds of laughter I described above.