It has long been customary to consider women not to be funnier. The first mention of this was in 1695. The British playwright wrote: “I must confess, I have never made any observation of what I apprehend to be true humor in women.” But how did this opinion appear? Here are some evidence-based versions.

Girls are taught not to joke.

In childhood, girls joke as often as boys, but by the age of 6, something is changing. Girls sharply begin to lag behind boys in the number of jokes. The reason lies in the fact that at the beginning of school, society “amputates the comedic muscle for girls.” Boys are allowed to make noise: to joke, to poke fun at others and to be little annoying bugs. And the girls are told to act like small ladies should. Sit and don’t get attention. It is at this age that people learn complex puns and smarter humor. And this requires practice. But for girls, this practice is impossible, as with the beginning of school this opportunity is cut off by society and parents. But men, on the contrary, have been training their “muscle” all their lives, from school.

Humor helps men pick up someone

What qualities of men attract women? Funny, strong, courageous, etc. When a woman laughs at a joke, a pleasure center literally flashes in her brain. It turns out that the male sense of humor is an evolutionary advantage that has been transmitted by tens of thousands of years. Funny men had more chances to please a woman, which means more chances for procreation. Humor has been passed down from generation to generation. Women do not joke to show interest in a man, but on the contrary, they laugh. But the man does not necessarily laugh at the female joke, even if he liked the woman and the joke was excellent.

Laughing at the jokes of a woman seems unnatural

In a sense, humor is a form of power. Teasing someone, you subordinate him. Men joke, women laugh, people accept this as a natural order of things. If it goes vice versa, something is considered to be wrong. Studies have shown that only 20% of women’s jokes caused laughs at work meetings, and 90% succeeded in men’s jokes. The point is not in the natural talent but in the hierarchy. Laughing at a joke shows that you understand it and show honor to the joker. Especially if it is a joke of your boss or a person standing higher in office.

You are already biased

University of California at San Diego conducted an experiment. They asked people to evaluate the funny signatures half of which were written by men, and half of them by women and did not say where what kind. Men’s jokes were just 2.2% funnier. And when they told to the participants what kind of joke was written by a man, and which by a woman, then 90% of people awarded victory to male jokes. Although before that the difference was 50 to 50.

That’s the difference between reality and perception. All this leads to a terrible warning that a good joke cannot be written without a penis…Blimey!