They Used to Call Me Snow White...But I Drifted: Women's Strategic Use of Humor, Regina Barreca, Penguin, 1991
All their lives, women are taught to giggle or laugh at a man's joke, even when they don't think it's funny. A very bad thing to say about a girl is that she can't take a joke, even if it involves abuse or insults. Good Girls are those who do what they're told, and don't support revolutionary causes like equal rights for women. Wanting to go to college, or to medical school after college, was, until recently, considered "showing off", something else that Good Girls never do. Good Girls don't draw attention to themselves.
On the other hand, there are men who laugh at women's jokes when they understand them, or who allow women to laugh when they want to, not when they should laugh. One of the reason slapstick humor, like the Three Stooges, appeal to women far less than men is that women are more likely to console than laugh at anyone considered a victim.
This excellent, and very thought-provoking, book also looks at how to deal with aggressive humor, differences in how the sexes appreciate sexual humor, and politics and women's humor. It does a very good job combining academics and the real world. Well worth reading.
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