"Most girls aren't funny" they say

[Mind Maverick]

I've heard this comment several times from guys that come from all different parts of the world. Normally it's said as a compliment to me; something along the lines of, "You're actually funny, which is cool because most girls aren't." (Weird since I always think I'm not.) I feel like asking among a larger group of people now - is this true based on your experience? Why do so many guys say this? Have you heard a lot of them say this to you before if you're a girl?

 

[Morpeko]

I have a boring story that relates to this topic.

For a couple of years, I was on a Discord server that I used to enjoy. At least, until I started opening up about my dysphoria and they didn't take any of it seriously. Most of it was that they were reducing my comments to "not like the other girls" mentality... which is not true at all, because I don't want to be seen as a girl at all, or they decided to just constantly remind me of the fact that I was born with two X chromosomes. Other times they were just plain sexist (stuff along the lines of negative female stereotypes and viewing women negatively).

Anyway, I digress. The final straw was actually a response to me posting some joke, and then a friend saying "MovinOut is the only funny female" Which pissed me off because not only is it a shitty generality, but he completely ignored all of my comments on that server.

But anyway, yes. I've heard comments like "Most girls aren't funny" and me being an exception sick too much throughout my life. I don't know why dudes say this.

 

[Hermit of the Forest]

I haven’t experienced this. I have been told at times I have no sense of humor/am no fun by both men and women though. Other times I have been perceived as very funny. It’s all highly situation based imo. Anyone who consistently finds all or most woman unfunny probably doesn’t understand our humor.

 

[Yara the Corpse]

Because it's simply true most of the time. Guys have to be funny to be attractive, girls don't.

Of course, I wouldn't find that as an excuse to make such a cheap comment about someone.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

I don’t think we (men, generally speaking) are as used to women going out of their way to be funny, because society and biology place different expectations on the sexes, meaning different mating strategies. Humor is like any other social skill and can be developed or ignored.

they are not inherently less funny; also there are plenty of humorless men in the world.

Some of the funniest people I know are women, like my mom and wife.

 

[Luminous]

I've never heard anyone say this.

But I also never really felt like I was expected to be dumb where I grew up, so it could just be that I am blind to some of those types of expectations.

 

[anticlimatic]

I don't think being funny comes natural to anybody, even if funny people seem like naturals at it- it's usually predicated on a lifetime of motivated practice, whether they realize it or not. I remember Jim Carry saying he mostly got into it to make his mother laugh when he was a kid. Because of its difficulty, I don't think it's the first tool most people reach for as they establish themselves as social players in the world. But not all tools are available to everyone, depending on the circumstances of their existence.

 

[Maou]

"Most girls are not funny" actually has some psychology based around it. Like said above, women do not need to be funny. They have the capacity for it, yes. But then you have to ask what is humor? Humor generally involves being somewhat offensive/controversial. Men usually have no issue with being offensive, but women sometimes do. So they are more likely to not be as funny. If you've ever watched comedians on TV, and looked at the differences between men and women. The subjects they choose to joke about are very different from each other.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

Just speculating now, but I wonder if weaker men way back in our evolutionary history started to employ humor as a strategy to compete with men who were physically stronger. I’m imagining a few bipedal, hairy ape-like people a few million years ago. A female protohuman is minding her own business when a male comes along to do a mating dance. She seems interested until Suddenly a larger male shoves him out of the way and begins his own mating dance. So the smaller male comes back and starts making amusing sounds and gestures to regain the female’s interest.

Don’t mind me, just speculating out of my ass, really.

Research has shown dogs have a particular sound that is a form of laughing. Ape species laugh as well. So I’m not sure how far back in our own lineage that humor developed as a mating strategy, but we can see that laughing and amusement are not limited to Homo Sapiens.

 

[J. Starke]

I think it's true that men are funnier than women on average. Women do have a sense of humor but there's a difference between being funny and having a sense of humor. The funniest women I've met have been INTP women.

 

[anticlimatic]

Just speculating now, but I wonder if weaker men way back in our evolutionary history started to employ humor as a strategy to compete with men who were physically stronger. I'm imagining a few bipedal, hairy ape-like people a few million years ago. A female protohuman is minding her own business when a male comes along to do a mating dance. She seems interested until Suddenly a larger male shoves him out of the way and begins his own mating dance. So the smaller male comes back and starts making amusing sounds and gestures to regain the female's interest. Don't mind me, just speculating out of my ass, really. Research has shown dogs have a particular sound that is a form of laughing. Ape species laugh as well. So I'm not sure how far back in our own lineage that humor developed as a mating strategy, but we can see that laughing and amusement are not limited to Homo Sapiens.

Intelligence is strength. The system that brought us humor is the same system that brought us weapons. They're not all that different.

 

[Ghost of the dead horse]

I've heard this comment several times from guys that come from all different parts of the world. Normally it's said as a compliment to me; something along the lines of, "You're actually funny, which is cool because most girls aren't." (Weird since I always think I'm not.) I feel like asking among a larger group of people now - is this true based on your experience? Why do so many guys say this? Have you heard a lot of them say this to you before if you're a girl?

When someone likes humor, it depends on sex. A guy with sense of humor 90% tells jokes. A girl with sense of humor 90% laughs at jokes.

 

[ceecee]

I've heard this comment several times from guys that come from all different parts of the world. Normally it's said as a compliment to me; something along the lines of, "You're actually funny, which is cool because most girls aren't." (Weird since I always think I'm not.) I feel like asking among a larger group of people now - is this true based on your experience? Why do so many guys say this? Have you heard a lot of them say this to you before if you're a girl?

I think this varies from person to person, as do most things but I'm certain someone will chime in with "evidence" to support the claim.

 

[Ghost of the dead horse]

I think it's true that men are funnier than women on average. Women do have a sense of humor but there's a difference between being funny and having a sense of humor. The funniest women I've met have been INTP women.

INTJ wife is funny. INTP woman are funny too. Funny shit there, man. They have good humour

 

[Mole]

Consider how difficult it is for women, who are asked to perform the cultural imperative of being sexy without being sexual.

Being sexy without being sexual is a high wire act, and humour can break our concentration, can break our balance.

And the purpose of being sexy without being sexual is to arouse the male, and humour and sexual arousal are mutually inhibitory.

And the purpose of being sexy without being sexual is to control the male. And control of the male is women's business, and business and pleasure don't mix. And business and pleasure, like arousal and humour are mutually inhibitory.

And the high wire act of being sexy without being sexual is performed under the radar, and so is deniable.

 

[Frosty]

I used to be funny. Not really anymore

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

I used to be funny. Not really anymore

Don’t get so down on yourself. I think you have still have an inner comedian waiting to be unleashed. You ever think about trying open mic stand up?

Comedy is the best way of coping with the pain and absurdity of modern life.

 

[Totenkindly]

I used to be funny. Not really anymore

Awww, don't be hard on yourself.

 

[FemMecha]

If you are a girl you have to be funny looking to be funny. Thankfully, most of my parts droop a little and this adds to the hilarity, so I am officially funny now. It's all very simple. If you are attractive, men feel serious attraction and if you look funny, they don't realize you are exist, therefore, women are not funny.

 

[Yara the Corpse]

Yeah, Anticlimatic is on to something:

The evolution of humor from male aggression
https://he.kendallhunt.com/sites/de.../Uploads/Dioccio_1e_Ch6_PageProofs_021612.pdf

I don't know why other people don't notice this... humour is connect to social hierarchies and enforcing them. To me it is obvious anyways. Do you never notice the person who is making the most jokes in any situation is clearly the dominant one?

Maybe it's just me being an INxx type and being hyper-aware of these Se things that I so often feel I don't jive with.