But Warren, that's some claim. Care to back it up with an anecdote?
How many girls memorized all the dialogue from Monty Python and the Holy Grail when they were 14? No one? Not a surprise. But I did, and a ton of other guys did, followed by Steve Martin routines, Coneheads sketches, and the big John Belushi "Who's with me?" speech at the end of Animal House. What in the world led us to do that? Why is being funny important to young men? Does the Y chromosome carry something the X doesn't?
Ah yes, because reciting Monty Python is what 'being funny' means.
His argument, incidentally, is that 'being funny' is something people to get attention, and "girls who want attention have other weapons — they can scream, they can cry, they can grow breasts." With tits like that who needs humour?
Matt Yglesias was stupid enough to quote and defend this article, and was duly and amusingly picked to pieces by commentators both male and female in this thread.
People use humour for all kinds of things. Marketing guys, and scriptwriters, tell each other jokes in loud voices. It's an aggressive dominance thing. I prefer male dominance to be about physical intimidation - that way we all get an eyeful. There's another kind of humour - it may not be egalitarian, but it's certainly equal opportunity. It's ruthless, and its most ruthless characteristic is that nobody tells you when the joke starts. Or indeed when it stops.
Don't have nightmares!
