Are women allowed to be funny?

Sara Silverman and Tina Fey are sooooo hot.

Actually, when I was a kid I had a crush on Joan Rivers too. But she's as old as the hills.

"but observers say that many men and women find attractive, aggressively funny women threatening."

wtf? I bet all these observers were women. Attractive, aggressively funny women are hot!

hellz yeah they are.

i want me some natali del conte.

I love Tina, Sarah and Lucy, never really saw much of Joan Rivers. I agree with your first post Brokenladder.

sarah silverman me likey!

men who think that are panzies

I agree with you ceceilia ..i think a strong women should be supported by a strong man. If you can not handle a secure, funny women than you just suck. I think women are creating their own identity and that may scare men.

Clearly these men have no sense of humor.

I find it rare that a woman can make me fall out of my seat with laughter. Many of them resort to sex and grossness to get a laugh...Sarah Silverman. With that said, the really good ones stand out.

Women are allowed to be funny. The trouble is, that many "funny women" put the woman first, and not the funny. So you end up with a lot of comedy routines about faking orgasms, lying boyfriends, periods, and dating. None of which is particularly funny.

It's the same with anyone, though. I don't think race-based comedy is funny when people are saying "I am from this race, here are some stereotypes, you have permission to laugh uncomfortably for eight minutes." I don't think geek comedy is funny, either, with all their, "I am a geek, STAR WARS, hahaha, and also ATARIS!"

That said, there are funny female/black/chinese/male/geek comedians out there; they just don't depend on their identity as a crutch.

I think a better article would be: "Are funny women allowed to be funny?: Or, how most comedians are unoriginal hacks who play it safe with obvious, recycled jokes."

Humor doesn't make a funny woman unattractive. Stereotypes of women offered by male-dominated media make funny women unattractive.

AceHardchester is exactly right

I'm fucking sarah silverman ...

Joan Rivers, scary, Lucy not so much

Tina Fey and Sarah Silverman are absolute comic talents. If they're threatening, then give me my depends so I can watch them and crap my pants in peace.

If you think about it, it's kind of true. When a guy says something racey, it is more likely to be accepted as just "funny" but if a girl says it she is being unladylike or whatever. In every day life, I feel like guys get more of the comedy credit.

I LOVE TINA FEY!
what's wrong with funny woman? threating? that's not a good enough excuse. it's sorta like if women are too smart, men feel intimidated. if women are too dumb, they're bimbos. how should women be then??

ohh_Donna,

It's a horrible double standard. Sometimes men early in life will be made social outcasts for being deemed too smart(i.e. nerds, geeks, etc.), but will probably achieve some level of success(i.e. Bill Gates, etc.). Meanwhile, if a man is too dumb he can easily become a supervising boss or even president.

How many people have called Georgie a bimbo?

i just don't find many women comedians funny. i watch and listen to a lot of stand up and honestly, i just don't find their typical joking to be humerus. there are a certain few who have made me chuckle but not enough for me to even recall their names

As a woman, I don't find many female comedians funny either. In fact, I think Tina Fey ruined SNL when she became head writer and that 30 Rock is hilarious because Tracy Morgan is insane. And Sarah Silverman is funny the way my best friend is funny. Give my best friend a million bucks to say really offensive things that everyone's already thinking.

That said I definitely agree with AceHardchester. There are funny comedians out there who represent a race, gender, interests but they don't harp on those things to get laughs. They have a large range and can do stand-up, theater, TV or film.

Judy Gold is one of my favorite female comedians. She's Jewish so she makes jokes about growing up Jewish from time to time but she has a boat-load of other jokes about other things and she does it well.

Lily Tomlin is another one who's just a brilliant actress who actually makes me double over with laughter. Might I also add Marla Gibbs who played the maid in the tv show "The Jeffersons". She was so sassy and so fun. I couldn't wait til she opened her mouth.

Those ladies are hella funny and not as popular as Tina Fey or Silverman who we are looking to set the precedent for female comedians. I think that's lame considering they aren't that great and could be the reason why people are questioning if women can be funny. Skip over the "hot items" such as these two ladies and definitely look into the comedy community. There are lots of gems to be found!

Every woman in that picture i find attractive except Joan. I had to read the other comments just to remember her name, god she's old and she's not funny!

Check out Megan Mooney and Kathleen Maddigan. They are pretty hilarious and I don't remember them talking about woman stuff.

Lucy was one of the first weman to be brillant and show how smart and funny weman can be. She was ever so beauiteful too ( tall and pale, woot! ). Tina's very very very good looking and sarcastic funny. Chelsea Handler's funny and kinda hot. As for gal's ingeneral being funny and yet attractive, hell ya. I think a girl that is funny makes their look more so apealing, kinda that 'wow, shes hot and can be funny!' Score! Sarcastic funny is the best, wit is the way to a guys heart. Well, mine at lest, not all guys.

I don't understand how people think tina fey is funny, but then again most of snl is horrible and that's on every week. How can a comedian be so arrogant they laugh at their own jokes? Ellen's stand up is great. Hating Tina Fey definitely makes me sexist.

I have no idea who any of the women mentioned in the comments are, apart from Joan Rivers, who I've not much experience of. In Britain there are an increasing number of female comedians: Victoria Wood, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, and most recently Catherine Tate. As far as I know, these women do sketch shows as opposed to stand-up, with the exception of Wood who does both. I agree with AceHardchester about most female comedians taking the obvious routes of feminine subjects. While this can be a bit of a cop-out, it can still be very funny, because it's laughing at yourself. When you can make a joke about a part of your identity, it means that you are truly comfortable with who you are, and a confident woman, who is also funny, is extremely sexy, even if a guy won't admit it.

I find that in everyday life, it's rare to find a girl who is actually funny. And by funny, I don't mean silly, flirty, playing the bimbo, laughing-AT-you kind of funny, I mean actually the kind of witty and clever humour that makes a guy - or anyone - think of you differently. Most of the guys I know are funny, some are even hilarious, but I think it's in a guy's DNA to be funny, because a lot of it is to do with showing off and being stupid and appearing popular. But of the girls I know that actually make me laugh, I could count them on one hand, which is a shame, but on the other hand, makes them more special.

Personally, as a woman, the moments that I feel truly empowered are the moments when I make a guy really laugh with something witty that I have said. Perhaps it makes me appear subservient, I don't know, but when a guy laughs sincerely at a joke I've made, I feel almost like I'm more worthy, it makes me feel less like a bimbo and more like an intelligent woman that the guy actually respects, especially when it's a guy that I find to be funny or that I really respect. For some reason it doesn't feel the same if I make a girl laugh, because it's not so much about proving myself or something, I don't know. And so any woman that can have a whole room of men (and women) splitting their sides is certainly, in my opinion, something pretty special.

I enjoy watching Tina Fey and Sarah Silverman are great and attractive.

I endorse women being aggressively funny.

AceHardChester, I totally agree.

I personally like Tina Fey, and I think she's funny.
But she's the only female comic I like. I find Sarah Silverman to be a tad irritating, but I'm sure if I met her, I'd like her.

I luuuuuuuv Sarah Silverman! Doesn't mean those celebrities in the audience don't find her 'threatening' though, especially Paris.

Yeah Sarah Silverman can't really be used as an example because she is not funny. I think the reason guys find smart, funny women threatening is because of the rejection factor. Everyone has been turned down by a chick at the bar but what if she cracked your little ego with wit and reduced you to tears? Thankfully I think funny girls are a turn on so I usually get over any hesitation. Love of course is the counter of fear.