Is Funny Funny?

“Are Women Funny?” 

I think the reason this whole thing annoys me so much is because it’s not even the right question to be asking.


Does anyone else understand how fundamentally backward this argument is?

Look.  People.  Let me try to be as clear as I can be:

Women are half the people on Earth.  They’re half the humans who exist.  I think they’re actually slightly more than half (but I don’t care enough to check).

So, let’s say you’re right:  women aren’t funny.  God bless ‘em, they just don’t understand humor that well.  They just aren’t as capable of being as funny as men are.

Well, guess what:  they’re half of all people.  So if you think women aren’t funny, then what you’re actually saying is that funny isn’t actually funny.

Do you understand?  If you cook a meal, and half of all people  say it tastes terrible...guess what?  You’re not that good a cook.  It’s not that half the people at the table just “don’t get” your cooking.  Even if every other cook says it’s great, it’s not.

Why not?  Because there’s something called an “objective reality” (i.e. the world) - and that’s not how it works.  You can say something’s there, and you can tell other people that what they see is wrong.  But that doesn’t make you right.

If you claim half of all people simply “aren’t funny,” then your definition of what’s “funny” ceases to be valid.  You can still claim you have a good sense of humor.  And what you think is funny can still make you happy.  No one is trying to take away your opinion.  But what you think is funny is not, by definition, what is actually, universally funny.

That’s why this is so fucking ridiculous to me, and why I’m so annoyed I’m wasting 20 minutes on this blog.

“Are women funny?”

If that’s honestly a question, then it’s time to start asking “Is funny funny?”

I put a shirt on just for you, Gonzalo.