Women in Business – do you get the Joke?
OK – who got the joke in the title? Did the women get the joke? Did the men get the Joke?
Last week in Can You Take Women in Business Seriously? I set out my stall, and asked you (yes, that’s you with the keyboard) to comment. I am very grateful to the ladies who took the time to give their views, and a little sad that no men stuck their heads above the parapet. I specifically asked what you would like to hear about, and was particularly gratified by the very first comment from Suzan St Maur who suggested as a topic:
whether women can make as good use of humour, especially in speeches and presentations, as men can … and if not, why not?
Suzan – lets alienate my readers right from the off, no women can’t.
My best friend told me about his mum & dad at parties. In a big crowd his mum will get everyone’s attention and start telling this very bad joke, very badly. About 2/3rds through she turns to her husband and says “Bob, you tell this joke so much better – you tell it ….”. Bob knows it’s a lame joke, he’d never have started to tell it in the 1st place, but now he has no option but to finish it, and of course it falls flat and he is left looking like a lemon!
Victoria Wood via last.fm
Even though 3 of my favourite comedians are Victoria Wood, Jennifer Saunders, and Jo Brand I can’t think of a single occasion when I’ve heard a woman tell me a joke, or she has been the entertaining speaker at a dinner. I think that men use humour in their lives much more than women do, in fact I don’t think – I know they do.
Let me get specific about what I am and am not saying with that statement:
- I am not saying that women don’t laugh as much, or have as much of a sense of humour.
- I am not saying that women can’t be funny.
- I am saying that men use humour in life, and women don’t.
Lets get stereotypical – a group of men get together, what image do we have? Well I offer you the bar at the local, pints in hand, swapping jokes – each man taking his turn to follow the last joke with a similar and related favourite. Or a black tie dinner, with a famous speaker recounting amusing tales from his past. The goalkeeper who fumbles the ball into the net knows that in the showers after he is going to get ribbed. The new apprentice will be teased unmercifully, and if they get upset will be asked why they “can’t take a joke”.
Lets get stereotypical – a group of women get together, what image do we have? Well I offer you the Women’s Institute, enough said. A Young Mums coffee morning – Duplo everywhere, supportive, collaborative, fun …. yes, humour – no. A gang of Ladettes on the pull, whilst the Lads they are targetting will be teasing each other and joking between themselves ……. well I’ve never really rubbed shoulders with ladettes, but from what I see their fun comes from dressing up, fancy dress, outrageous antics.
When it comes to humour to my mind there is a very clear differential between men and women. Humour is a tool that men use and women don’t. In a future blog I will explain my views on why there is difference, how it comes about, and what women should do to use it to their advantage. Before I do that I would like you (yes, that’s still you hiding behind the screen with the keyboard, I can see you) to tell me how much you agree or disagree with my observations.
What do YOU think?
Oh – and the Joke. Double Entendre – “Women – do you get the joke?” or “Do you get that women are a joke?” ……. I know, it wasn’t that funny, but it did get your attention!
Addendum – at the time of writing this I was unaware that Suzan St Maur who suggested the topic was an author who had written several humorous books, which I have listed below, click on the links should you wish to buy them.
Nick
Proprietor of Pimlico Flats Renting Flats in London
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54 Responses to Women in Business – do you get the Joke?
All that jazz – All in A Day
Review of: Cousin Alice Jazz Music by Cousin Alice: Elaine Sturgess Reviewed by: Elaine Sturgess Rating: 5 On January 21, 2012 Last modified: January 30, 2012 Summary: What makes Alice so distinctive is her wonderfully smokey voice, a quality that furniture designer William Yeoward found so arresting at a concert she was performing for the [...]
what a tosser – clearly either an MCP of the highest order, or someone who has never had a decent relationship with a woman as he knows nothing about them
Deborah
Do you have anything to say about the blog? You chose to talk about me (who you know nothing about) rather than the article, which I think is a shame. People always come across best when talking about something that they know about.
what a tosser – clearly either an MCP of the highest order, or someone who has never had a decent relationship with a woman as he knows nothing about them
Deborah
Do you have anything to say about the blog? You chose to talk about me (who you know nothing about) rather than the article, which I think is a shame. People always come across best when talking about something that they know about.
Nick, it’s a shame you used a joke that isn’t either funny or clever to demonstrate that men are better at using humour…
I do, however, agree that men use humour more regularly – but let’s get stereotypical (again), it’s often to cover up for the fact that they haven’t got anything interesting/intelligent/valuable to say… isn’t it?
* laughing as I hide behind my keyboard *
Elaine
A provocative headline was my priority, so I guess I have to put my hands up and admit to not having put the effort into the joke. Do you have a suggestion for a better joke?
Admittedly this is a 2 part blog, and I have the advantage in knowing where it is going, but I am still surprised that you went off on what to me is a tangent in spite of the fact that I mentioned 3 superlative comedians who are all women. It’s interesting that you think that men are BETTER at humour, but that isn’t something that I have said anywhere, nor is it the theme of the blogs.
Oh dear, you seem to have lost your sense of humour.
It’s irrelavant whether I have a better joke – but if I were to make the time to think about it, I would almost certainly come up with one. But it is your blog, so it is down to you to do the thinking.
Actually I think your blogs in general are unhelpful in the debate about the differences between men and women. You use far too many generalisations (for example to make the statement “men use humour, women don’t” is ridiculous and completely undermines any possible value your blog might have). Also, for many, I think the discussion has moved way beyond using such crass insinuations that just because men do things a certain way, women should too.
I didn’t actually say that men are better at using humour, I was referring back to your blog, the whole premise of which seems to be that that men are better… er full stop I think.
As for knowing what is in Part 2, perhaps the fact that you have illlicited my comment suggests that your blog is ill thought out and that elements of Part 2 or at least some intro to it, would have made Part 1 a more stimulating (as opposed to irritating) read.
If you are going to write a deliberately provocative blog, you had better be more prepared in future to respond more constructively to some deliberately provocative responses.
I have not used the word “better”, you introduced it.
All I have done is point out that humour is something men tend to use and women tend not to. I gave examples, but you haven’t put forward anything beyond stating that they are ridiculous, and insulting me and my blog.
I can’t argue with baseless opinions, that is just prejudice.
Nick, it’s a shame you used a joke that isn’t either funny or clever to demonstrate that men are better at using humour…
I do, however, agree that men use humour more regularly – but let’s get stereotypical (again), it’s often to cover up for the fact that they haven’t got anything interesting/intelligent/valuable to say… isn’t it?
* laughing as I hide behind my keyboard *
Elaine
A provocative headline was my priority, so I guess I have to put my hands up and admit to not having put the effort into the joke. Do you have a suggestion for a better joke?
Admittedly this is a 2 part blog, and I have the advantage in knowing where it is going, but I am still surprised that you went off on what to me is a tangent in spite of the fact that I mentioned 3 superlative comedians who are all women. It’s interesting that you think that men are BETTER at humour, but that isn’t something that I have said anywhere, nor is it the theme of the blogs.
Oh dear, you seem to have lost your sense of humour.
It’s irrelavant whether I have a better joke – but if I were to make the time to think about it, I would almost certainly come up with one. But it is your blog, so it is down to you to do the thinking.
Actually I think your blogs in general are unhelpful in the debate about the differences between men and women. You use far too many generalisations (for example to make the statement “men use humour, women don’t” is ridiculous and completely undermines any possible value your blog might have). Also, for many, I think the discussion has moved way beyond using such crass insinuations that just because men do things a certain way, women should too.
I didn’t actually say that men are better at using humour, I was referring back to your blog, the whole premise of which seems to be that that men are better… er full stop I think.
As for knowing what is in Part 2, perhaps the fact that you have illlicited my comment suggests that your blog is ill thought out and that elements of Part 2 or at least some intro to it, would have made Part 1 a more stimulating (as opposed to irritating) read.
If you are going to write a deliberately provocative blog, you had better be more prepared in future to respond more constructively to some deliberately provocative responses.
I have not used the word “better”, you introduced it.
All I have done is point out that humour is something men tend to use and women tend not to. I gave examples, but you haven’t put forward anything beyond stating that they are ridiculous, and insulting me and my blog.
I can’t argue with baseless opinions, that is just prejudice.
I think you’ve hit the nail on the head there Nick: women can be just as funny as men, can enjoy jokes just as much as men, but for whatever reason don’t use humour as much as men do.
In one of my weddings books (Wedding Speeches For Women) I have written quite a lot about how women can use humour effectively in public speaking. So if our Fearless Leader the Ed agrees I’ll do a follow-up to your post here on that … and I’ll be very interested to read your views on it!
Sz
Twitter: SuzeStMWrites
Suzan
Even though it was your own comment last week that prompted me to write this particular title, I’m a still a little gob-smacked that we are both on the same wavelength. I am sure that you will confirm that we have had no discussion about the subject (or any other – hello, I’m Nick delighted to make your acquaintance) and I didn’t even know about your book. I have a theory as to why men use humour, I just haven’t written it down yet, because I want to discuss the role of Stereotyping first.!
A follow up is most welcome Suze, and Nick, your thoughts are always welcome too. We can get more discussed by blogging and debating it that pretending we are all perfect, only in my case I am
Did you see that, humour in a comment, hehehehe
Sarah
I think you’ve hit the nail on the head there Nick: women can be just as funny as men, can enjoy jokes just as much as men, but for whatever reason don’t use humour as much as men do.
In one of my weddings books (Wedding Speeches For Women) I have written quite a lot about how women can use humour effectively in public speaking. So if our Fearless Leader the Ed agrees I’ll do a follow-up to your post here on that … and I’ll be very interested to read your views on it!
Sz
Twitter: SuzeStMWrites
Suzan
Even though it was your own comment last week that prompted me to write this particular title, I’m a still a little gob-smacked that we are both on the same wavelength. I am sure that you will confirm that we have had no discussion about the subject (or any other – hello, I’m Nick delighted to make your acquaintance) and I didn’t even know about your book. I have a theory as to why men use humour, I just haven’t written it down yet, because I want to discuss the role of Stereotyping first.!
A follow up is most welcome Suze, and Nick, your thoughts are always welcome too. We can get more discussed by blogging and debating it that pretending we are all perfect, only in my case I am
Did you see that, humour in a comment, hehehehe
Sarah
I don’t often agree with what the way that you say things Nick, which I know is the way you like it, so you’ll be delighted to see that once again I disagree
I know lots of women who use humour to great effect in their lives – a few have even mastered sarcasm, which I am sure will come as a surprise to you!
I also know lots of men who have no sense of humour at all and bore me rigid.
The type of person that really annoys me though (whether male or female) is the one that goes all out to create controversy and be rude to mask the fact that they clearly have no sense of humour – it’s nice to see that you haven’t descended to that level.
Twitter: nikkipilkington
Nikki,
Unfortunately it’s difficult for me to respond you as I didn’t quite catch your tone of voice, but it’s a well thought out comment in the style that I love so much myself.
Did you miss the bit in the blog that is highlighted by the grey box?
I agree that there are humourless men, but I don’t think that has any relevance.
I don’t often agree with what the way that you say things Nick, which I know is the way you like it, so you’ll be delighted to see that once again I disagree
I know lots of women who use humour to great effect in their lives – a few have even mastered sarcasm, which I am sure will come as a surprise to you!
I also know lots of men who have no sense of humour at all and bore me rigid.
The type of person that really annoys me though (whether male or female) is the one that goes all out to create controversy and be rude to mask the fact that they clearly have no sense of humour – it’s nice to see that you haven’t descended to that level.
Twitter: nikkipilkington
Nikki,
Unfortunately it’s difficult for me to respond you as I didn’t quite catch your tone of voice, but it’s a well thought out comment in the style that I love so much myself.
Did you miss the bit in the blog that is highlighted by the grey box?
I agree that there are humourless men, but I don’t think that has any relevance.
Nick, what can I say…
There are very funny women out there, and as equally unfunny men like Sacha Baron Cohen who ceased to be amusing 10 years ago, but drags his humour on and on and on….
Humour / Wit, I think women are far wittier than men and much faster at thinking on their feet..
*ducks from the onslaught on males charging in to agree with Nick*
I don’t think I have a view on whether women are wittier or faster thinking than men, but I do find it strange that women seem to think that there is a difference. I wouldn’t expect there to be a biological difference (I don’t believe there have been any scientific differences between men and women’s brains identified?) – however there may well be differing end results from nurture.
OTOH I have noticed in my travels (I have lived and worked quite widely) that there are very strong geographical differences in humour, for instance Scousers have a very quick wit. This is often their undoing as they then lose arguments to people with slower accents who are able to think before speaking.
And there is another blog for you, wit versus thought, do Scousers lose out?
Without wishing to indulge in the differences between senses of humour in the UK … ahem … let me quote from one of my articles about the difficulties involved with cross-culture humour (this was for a US publication hence the spellings):
“Use humor about situations, not people. If you think about it, the butt of many jokes and other humor is a person or group of people, so it’s hardly surprising that offense is caused. The more extreme types are obvious – mother-in-law jokes, blonde jokes, women jokes, men jokes – but there are many more subtle ones too.
Then there are the nationality gags. I remember in one year hearing exactly the same joke (in three different languages) told by an American about the Polish, by a Canadian about Newfoundlanders, by a French person about Belgians, by a French-speaking Belgian about the Flemish, and by a Flemish person about the Dutch.
Obviously most humor is going to involve people in one way or another. But as long as the butt of the joke is a situation or set of circumstances, not the people, you’re far less likely to upset anyone. And there is an added advantage here.
Whoever they are and wherever they come from, people will usually identify with a situation. Take this one for example…
Some people are driving along at night and are stopped by a police car. The officer goes to the driver and warns him that one of the rear lights on his SUV isn’t working. The driver jumps out and looks terribly upset. The officer reassures him that he won’t get a ticket, it’s just a warning, so there’s no problem. “Oh yes there is a problem,” says the man as he rushes towards the back of the car. “if you could see my rear lights it means I’ve lost my trailer.”
As the butt of the joke is the broken rear light and the loss of the trailer, not the policeman or the driver, no-one can be offended. And most people can identify with how that would feel.
The other key issue with humor is wordplays, puns, and anything else that’s based on figurative speech, slang, or jargon. The short answer is they don’t work internationally. However if the play or double entendre is in the concept rather than the words, it probably will work.
These may be funny to us, but would not be understood by anyone who is not a good English speaker because there is a play on the words:
* Deja moo: The feeling that you’ve heard this bull before.
* The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.
These, however, probably would be understood because the humor is in the concept, not in the words themselves:
* You don’t stop laughing because you grow old. You grow old because you stop laughing.
* The trouble with doing something right the first time is that nobody appreciates how difficult it was.
Suze xx
Twitter: SuzeStMWrites
Nick, what can I say…
There are very funny women out there, and as equally unfunny men like Sacha Baron Cohen who ceased to be amusing 10 years ago, but drags his humour on and on and on….
Humour / Wit, I think women are far wittier than men and much faster at thinking on their feet..
*ducks from the onslaught on males charging in to agree with Nick*
I don’t think I have a view on whether women are wittier or faster thinking than men, but I do find it strange that women seem to think that there is a difference. I wouldn’t expect there to be a biological difference (I don’t believe there have been any scientific differences between men and women’s brains identified?) – however there may well be differing end results from nurture.
OTOH I have noticed in my travels (I have lived and worked quite widely) that there are very strong geographical differences in humour, for instance Scousers have a very quick wit. This is often their undoing as they then lose arguments to people with slower accents who are able to think before speaking.
And there is another blog for you, wit versus thought, do Scousers lose out?
Without wishing to indulge in the differences between senses of humour in the UK … ahem … let me quote from one of my articles about the difficulties involved with cross-culture humour (this was for a US publication hence the spellings):
“Use humor about situations, not people. If you think about it, the butt of many jokes and other humor is a person or group of people, so it’s hardly surprising that offense is caused. The more extreme types are obvious – mother-in-law jokes, blonde jokes, women jokes, men jokes – but there are many more subtle ones too.
Then there are the nationality gags. I remember in one year hearing exactly the same joke (in three different languages) told by an American about the Polish, by a Canadian about Newfoundlanders, by a French person about Belgians, by a French-speaking Belgian about the Flemish, and by a Flemish person about the Dutch.
Obviously most humor is going to involve people in one way or another. But as long as the butt of the joke is a situation or set of circumstances, not the people, you’re far less likely to upset anyone. And there is an added advantage here.
Whoever they are and wherever they come from, people will usually identify with a situation. Take this one for example…
Some people are driving along at night and are stopped by a police car. The officer goes to the driver and warns him that one of the rear lights on his SUV isn’t working. The driver jumps out and looks terribly upset. The officer reassures him that he won’t get a ticket, it’s just a warning, so there’s no problem. “Oh yes there is a problem,” says the man as he rushes towards the back of the car. “if you could see my rear lights it means I’ve lost my trailer.”
As the butt of the joke is the broken rear light and the loss of the trailer, not the policeman or the driver, no-one can be offended. And most people can identify with how that would feel.
The other key issue with humor is wordplays, puns, and anything else that’s based on figurative speech, slang, or jargon. The short answer is they don’t work internationally. However if the play or double entendre is in the concept rather than the words, it probably will work.
These may be funny to us, but would not be understood by anyone who is not a good English speaker because there is a play on the words:
* Deja moo: The feeling that you’ve heard this bull before.
* The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.
These, however, probably would be understood because the humor is in the concept, not in the words themselves:
* You don’t stop laughing because you grow old. You grow old because you stop laughing.
* The trouble with doing something right the first time is that nobody appreciates how difficult it was.
Suze xx
Twitter: SuzeStMWrites
Someone much witter than me (probably a man) once said that a woman thinks a man has a good sense of humour funny if he can make her laugh, while a man thinks a woman has a good sense of humour if she laughs at his jokes.
ROFL – nice one. Although I don’t see that coming from a man! (Or was that part of your joke!)
I googled it for you, turns out that it’s funny because it’s true…
…Eric Bressler, a graduate student at McMaster University who is studying humor in personal attraction, discovered in a survey of 150 students that to a woman, “sense of humor” means someone who makes her laugh; to a man, a sense of humor means someone who appreciates his jokes. “Women choose men who produce humor 62 per cent of the time; conversely, men choose women who appreciate their humor 65 per cent of the time.”
There’s a link to a story about the research here… http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/19843.php
Well my father in law thinks he’s very funny and tells terrible jokes all the time. Then he leads the laughing, in case any of us don’t realise it’s supposed to be funny. I find it excruciating, and I’ve NEVER seen such behaviour from a woman.
Lydia’s comment about male/female interpretations of humour seems to me to be quite apposite.
Someone much witter than me (probably a man) once said that a woman thinks a man has a good sense of humour funny if he can make her laugh, while a man thinks a woman has a good sense of humour if she laughs at his jokes.
ROFL – nice one. Although I don’t see that coming from a man! (Or was that part of your joke!)
I googled it for you, turns out that it’s funny because it’s true…
…Eric Bressler, a graduate student at McMaster University who is studying humor in personal attraction, discovered in a survey of 150 students that to a woman, “sense of humor” means someone who makes her laugh; to a man, a sense of humor means someone who appreciates his jokes. “Women choose men who produce humor 62 per cent of the time; conversely, men choose women who appreciate their humor 65 per cent of the time.”
There’s a link to a story about the research here… http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/19843.php
Well my father in law thinks he’s very funny and tells terrible jokes all the time. Then he leads the laughing, in case any of us don’t realise it’s supposed to be funny. I find it excruciating, and I’ve NEVER seen such behaviour from a woman.
Lydia’s comment about male/female interpretations of humour seems to me to be quite apposite.
Howdie Nick,
Hmm, interesting post
Can I tell a joke? Absolutely not. Can I be funny – most definitely yes. I think women are better at making real life sitations come across as amusing rather than standing around the bar telling jokes.
Perhaps all of this is a throw back from our cave-people days. Maybe guy’s telling jokes (or thinking they have the ability to tell jokes) is a throw back from primeval courtship rituals. You know, it would have been the strongest guy who gets the girl (or the guy with the biggest club!). Obviously evolution has forced us to move on from those days. So the ‘joke telling round the bar’ thing is the modern man’s way of pulling the ladies in the mistaken belief that the funniest joke wins.
But, I prefer a man who is naturally witty rather than someone who relies on telling jokes. I think to be witty in natural conversation shows intellegence whereas ‘you’ll never guess what happened when…’ indicates someone who doesn’t have enything interesting to say about themselves.
How about that for a scientific, freudian response
Hi Sally,
You have actually taken this further, in the same way that I will – except that you’ve thought of a different explanation to the one that I am preparing.
You’ve also raised another interesting point – that women find wit/humour more attractive than looks. The way to a woman’s heart is to make her laugh, the secret every man wishes he had known at 17, and that some never get.
Howdie Nick,
Hmm, interesting post
Can I tell a joke? Absolutely not. Can I be funny – most definitely yes. I think women are better at making real life sitations come across as amusing rather than standing around the bar telling jokes.
Perhaps all of this is a throw back from our cave-people days. Maybe guy’s telling jokes (or thinking they have the ability to tell jokes) is a throw back from primeval courtship rituals. You know, it would have been the strongest guy who gets the girl (or the guy with the biggest club!). Obviously evolution has forced us to move on from those days. So the ‘joke telling round the bar’ thing is the modern man’s way of pulling the ladies in the mistaken belief that the funniest joke wins.
But, I prefer a man who is naturally witty rather than someone who relies on telling jokes. I think to be witty in natural conversation shows intellegence whereas ‘you’ll never guess what happened when…’ indicates someone who doesn’t have enything interesting to say about themselves.
How about that for a scientific, freudian response
Hi Sally,
You have actually taken this further, in the same way that I will – except that you’ve thought of a different explanation to the one that I am preparing.
You’ve also raised another interesting point – that women find wit/humour more attractive than looks. The way to a woman’s heart is to make her laugh, the secret every man wishes he had known at 17, and that some never get.
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I feel sorry for you Nick, you have obviously not worked with a lot of women.
I was teaching a very dry intranet information package at a firm and everyone was laughing throughout, another trainer even said it was one of my best courses, as humour can be a good delivery method.
Also being ex military we used humour a lot, ever have to dig a trench across a road to lay comm lines? Wait for hours after having prepared a location only to have to pack up and move to another location and start all over again. We found humour in all things, the silliest was that my hands turned blue from my leather gloves because I lent the glove liners to someone else so we could both dig trenches with our bare hands (not enough tools). The men sat and watched us females dig the trench until the female MCpl yelled at them, we laughed for hours. I am now laughing about it now.
Think you had to be there.
I hope you meet all of us females with a sense of humour.
I feel sorry for you Nick, you have obviously not worked with a lot of women.
I was teaching a very dry intranet information package at a firm and everyone was laughing throughout, another trainer even said it was one of my best courses, as humour can be a good delivery method.
Also being ex military we used humour a lot, ever have to dig a trench across a road to lay comm lines? Wait for hours after having prepared a location only to have to pack up and move to another location and start all over again. We found humour in all things, the silliest was that my hands turned blue from my leather gloves because I lent the glove liners to someone else so we could both dig trenches with our bare hands (not enough tools). The men sat and watched us females dig the trench until the female MCpl yelled at them, we laughed for hours. I am now laughing about it now.
Think you had to be there.
I hope you meet all of us females with a sense of humour.
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Having read the post and all the comments thus far, the things that comes across to me are:
In my own experience men are probably better at telling jokes (usually at someone else’s expense).
Men and women can ‘do’ situational humour well. Dave Allen was the granddaddy for me, and I see similarities in those (men and women) who have followed in his footsteps.
Translating that into the workplace (the business aspect of the original post):
All I can say is that I survived and thrived for over six years working for a CEO with an ego the size of a planet, whilst many others (mainly blokes) came and often rapidly went: Too much vying testosterone? I was no female milksop equivalent.
One of the guys (on his way out of the company) thought he’d nailed it: “You use humour.” was what he said…
Twitter: Linda_Mattacks
Having read the post and all the comments thus far, the things that comes across to me are:
In my own experience men are probably better at telling jokes (usually at someone else’s expense).
Men and women can ‘do’ situational humour well. Dave Allen was the granddaddy for me, and I see similarities in those (men and women) who have followed in his footsteps.
Translating that into the workplace (the business aspect of the original post):
All I can say is that I survived and thrived for over six years working for a CEO with an ego the size of a planet, whilst many others (mainly blokes) came and often rapidly went: Too much vying testosterone? I was no female milksop equivalent.
One of the guys (on his way out of the company) thought he’d nailed it: “You use humour.” was what he said…
Twitter: Linda_Mattacks
99% of humour has a victim. The other 1% just isn’t funny. The really clever comedians sometimes even double up as the victim – Dawn French and Victoria Wood are good examples.
Now …either Nick had his tongue firmly in his cheek when he wrote this, or he is just clumsy at expressing himself and his ideas. Let’s, for the purposes of my argument, assume it’s the former.
A big factor in having a sense of humour is being able to laugh at yourself. The women on this thread are patently not doing that.
I’ll let the rest of you join-up the dots on that one.
*awaits accusations of showing solidarity with Nick just because he’s male*
I’m all for everyone being able to laugh at our/themselves. It’s healthy and helps to drop barriers.
Now Mitch. Can you give us some examples of how you laugh at yourself?
xx
Twitter: SuzeStMWrites
99% of humour has a victim. The other 1% just isn’t funny. The really clever comedians sometimes even double up as the victim – Dawn French and Victoria Wood are good examples.
Now …either Nick had his tongue firmly in his cheek when he wrote this, or he is just clumsy at expressing himself and his ideas. Let’s, for the purposes of my argument, assume it’s the former.
A big factor in having a sense of humour is being able to laugh at yourself. The women on this thread are patently not doing that.
I’ll let the rest of you join-up the dots on that one.
*awaits accusations of showing solidarity with Nick just because he’s male*
I’m all for everyone being able to laugh at our/themselves. It’s healthy and helps to drop barriers.
Now Mitch. Can you give us some examples of how you laugh at yourself?
xx
Twitter: SuzeStMWrites
Well Nick, you’ve certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons with this one.
Maybe if some of the female contributors had read your posting from a different angle rather than from a defensive stand point they may have seen slightly more to your post and interpreted it differently.
good luck with your next post
Well Nick, you’ve certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons with this one.
Maybe if some of the female contributors had read your posting from a different angle rather than from a defensive stand point they may have seen slightly more to your post and interpreted it differently.
good luck with your next post