So, Germaine Greer writes an essay in the Guardian in which she apologizes for saying on TV that women aren't as funny as men. Then she says it some more, at great length. I won't bother dispatching her somewhat disjointed argument because Kate Harding, in Salon, does so very ably, pointing out that Greer dances around, but doesn't assert, the societal pressures that prevent women from honing those gifts generally considered comedic.

My primary reaction to these "debates" (and let it be said that the old saw prohibiting the analysis of comedy is, generally speaking, a good one) is...confusion. Because I find women really funny. Maybe I just have a taste for the "droll," (which Greer distinguishes from the actually funny) but I don't know who's supposed to be funnier than Barbara Pym or Laurie Colwin or, yes, Austen, while the allegedly riotous antics of The Ginger Man and Tom Robbins have always left me cold - and don't even get us started on Tina Fey or Carole Lombard. It's not so much that men are funnier; it's that the modern definition of "funny" seems to be a fundamentally masculine one - involving a lot of very aggressive antics - and by their own definition, sure, they're better at it, but mostly because almost no woman I know wants to carry on like a Hunter S. Thompson character. You'd think Germaine Greer would agree.

Women aren't funny, redux [Salon]

Beaten to the punchline [Guardian]

Salon writer Kate Harding has a girlcrush on her. NPR interviewed her about the female vote. You've seen her mocking yogurt that makes you poop. But do you know Sarah Haskins? She's a Harvard-educated funnylady whose segments on Current TV's infoMania deal with issues like botox. She's a Chicago comedy alum who has recently moved to L.A. She likes Sesame Street and Eddie Izzard. And, in an interview with Chicago comedy blog The Bastion, Ms. Haskins is asked, point blank: Are you a feminist? She answers thusly:

Yes, I’m a feminist. It is an extension of my lifelong war against pantyhose. To me it means that as women we are individuals before we are gendered people and that we’re not defined by our gender except in the ways we chose to appropriate that definition. We’re in a weird generation, right? Our Moms were forced to grapple with that definition more immediately, and I think it’s changed as we’ve grown up. The core issue "how do I fight bias against me because of my gender" is still there but has gotten more complicated and wrapped into all kinds of identity issues about how you present yourself as a woman and I pretty much think it's your choice and fuck pantyhose.

Yeah, okay, it's official, I love you. What's next for Sarah Haskins? "Ultimate goals? Nobel Prize for Literature," she says. "Failing that, I would like a long career where I do a lot of different things. I look at the careers of people like Mike Nichols, Tina Fey, and Steve Martin — they've all done great work in a number of roles and mediums. I hope to make a few good things." You already have, my friend. You already have!

Peep the awesome bride-oriented video below:

Sarah Haskins on "Angry" women voters:

Sarah Haskins on Botox:

Sarah Haskins on yogurt:

New episodes of infoMania go up every Thursday night.

Sarah Haskins Casts Her 'Lady' Vote [NPR]
Girl Crush: Sarah Haskins [Salon]
Inside With: Sarah Haskins [The Bastion]
Related: infoMania [Current]