How often do you get a positive reaction to making a joke in class?

If you asked a group of girls at school versus a group of boys at school, it wouldn’t be surprising to many of us if the two answers differed greatly. Sometimes women just aren’t funny, right? 

Wrong. 

Some may say that women are funnier than men, myself included. 

While oftentimes the male counterpart gets more laughs, women often put more thought and effort into their comedic actions. I’ve noticed that men get laughed at for almost anything. 

Too often men are funny because they’re stupid, while women are funny because they appreciate humor. 

We see this consistently in television, with shows like Jackass, Impractical Jokers, and older shows like The Three Stooges.  

That’s not to say that men don’t appreciate humor and women aren’t stupid. 

Using the word stupid lightly, of course. 

For example, though, many high school and college football games are supported by enthusiastic crowds rooting for their home team by dressing up, following fun themes.

Derby is especially supportive of our team. 

The DHS “paint gang” is a group of derby’s finest young men who hilariously paint on their chests to demonstrate school spirit. 

The boys always try to engage everyone in the school spirit by screaming at them to stand up and show the team some love. 

It’s silly, it’s goofy, the boys are cute- possibly getting them more laughs than deserved. 

The paint gang does allow a few girls the spotlight at a certain home game, where the genders are reversed and the girls get painted on. They did this for the recent game at Maize South on October 14th. 

Personally, I think it’s just as funny, but at the same time it opens up more opportunities for disagreement. 

It’s proven to be easier to call a group of girls with sports bras on and paint all over their bodies provocative, than a group of shirtless teenage boys with paint all over their bodies. Sometimes taking away from the goofiness of the act.

Societies sexualization of one gender should not take away from their comedic credibility. 

The differences in gender biased comedy hardly ever goes unnoticed, and for good reason too, men and women view the world through very different lenses. 

It’s a given that the deliverance and the audience play a significant role in the comedic value of a joke. No matter the gender of the jokester, some things just aren’t funny in certain places or at certain times. 

Comedy is an art, but there is a formula. 

An article in vanity fair by Christopher Hitchens stated simply that the reason for their differences in humor is because men view life as an obstacle, whereas women view the world as a journey. 

Gender stereotypes often get in the way of lighthearted comedy.