I was surprised a couple days ago when Penelope Trunk, the (usually really cool) career columnist behind Brazen Careerist busted out this frankly crazy statement:

Anyway, their point is that fun people are more likable. Which is the problem with women: We are not as funny as men. That is not their point. It is my point.

But my gut tells me it’s right. My gut tells me that most funny women are gay. First of all, Brassler’s research found that men do not think women who are funny are more attractive. Also, Christopher Hitchins has a great piece in Vanity Fair, Why Women Aren’t Funny, where he points out that Jewish women are funny, but only because they have male qualities of humor -angst and self-deprecation.

All this makes me happy because people often ask me if I’m gay, and I used to think it’s because I am awkward when it comes to flirting. (Quote from the first guy I dated since the onset of my divorce: “You are an incompetent flirt.”) But now I take the question of my sexual orientation as a compliment: it means that I’m leveraging my angst-riddled Jewish upbringing to be the funny girl.

I gotta say, I like Penelope Trunk. I found her blog while I was going through a period of career-related existential crisis, and really grooved on her advice about Generation Y in the workplace. But she’s had a few eyebrow-raising posts over the last couple days, mostly related to her divorce and attempts to get back on her feet.

This post is definitely an example. “Funny women are gay”? I mean, is that a thing? Also “I’m going to take it as a compliment when people ask if I’m gay because it really means I’m Jewish” is pretty much Exhibit A for why you shouldn’t blog while going through stressful life situations.

I had simply chalked that up to the odd circumstances at Brazen Careerist, but then I saw The Hater take on this article from “Vanity Fair” (was this all one incredibly stupid issue or what?):

It used to be that women were not funny. Then they couldn’t be funny if they were pretty. Now a female comedian has to be pretty—even sexy—to get a laugh. At least, that’s one way to view the trajectory from Phyllis Diller and Carol Burnett to Tina Fey. Some say it’s the natural evolution of the women’s movement; others argue it’s a devolution. But the funniest women on television are youthful, good-looking, and even, in a few cases, close to beautiful—the kind of women who in past decades might have been the butt of a stand-up comic’s jokes.

That’s kind of a huge double slam on modern female comedians isn’t it? First, unlike your role models, you’re only famous because you’re eye candy. Second, even as eye candy you’re only “close to beautiful.”

The funny thing is, I don’t know any guy who doesn’t like funny women. I feel like that’s part of the “I don’t like girls who are too smart” mentality, and who wants to date those douchebags anyway? So what I’m trying to say is, here is some eye candy:

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