If one half didn't want one, that means it's likely the other half DID.

Could we find something slightly less inane today to blog about?

Mary

One of the biggest problems with any survey is that smart people figure out how to avoid taking it. Any survey only includes people who are too dumb to read caller ID or to avoid survey takers in the mall.

Give me funny and smart. When asked by a friend if I had any problems dating a smart woman who made more money than me, I said "No!"

Does anyone else find the opening sentence of this entry offensive?

"We all know men are intimidated by smart women. "

I rather wonder if I wrote "We all know that women..." anything, if I'd be in big trouble? And rightly so.

I'm a guy, and I have never dated a woman who wasn't at least as smart as I am. My wife is extremely smart, makes more money than me, and is higher up the ladder in the same career path as me. And what do you know, she's pretty funny, too.

I can't say whether or not "most" men are not like this. But a statement like "We all know men..." isn't about most men, is it?

I haven't read the study, but there's a difference between having a sense of humor, and being "funny". I'd say having a sense of humor is pretty much required in this world. I have a hard time defining "sense of humor", but I think it relates to an ablity to cope with the ups and downs in the world, to take things lightly that SHOULD be taken lightly, to laugh at yourself and laugh with others, etc.

Now, being "funny" is another thing altogether. I would define a "funny" person as someone who grabs the spotlight and doesn't tend to let go. Think "class clown". Yes, some of these people are extremely entertaining--but some are hurtful (intentionally or unintentionally) and sometimes they are just plain exhausting. Can I see why men might not find this sexy? Yeah, I do. *I* don't particularly find it sexy either, in men or women.

Nora Merhar

the same group of men who are afeard of smart, educated wimmen are afeard of the funny ones, too.

So if you meet one of those men, girls, don't just sit there simpering at his dull patter. RUN FAR AWAY. He doesn't sound like much of a catch.

the relationship has no future due to the fact that women unlike men, can't sustain any serious emotional connection to someone they believe is inferior to them in any meaningful way.

Well, I guess as usual, this leaves me out.

My woman has a girlish sense of humor. She will tell me things that are funny but she can't stop laughing long enough to tell me. She gets my dark and twisted humor even though it's very different from hers. That's a smart lady. In addition, she has a master's degree, is an accomplished and highly creative educator, and is pretty damned easy on the eyes. She hates humor at the expense of others, and she abhors gossip. She is one of the kindest, most loving and pure souls I have ever known. We've been together for over 16 years now, and if she were one of those pretty-and-that's-their-day women our romance would've been over a long time ago. I appreciate intelligent women. A sense of humor is one clear and obvious sign of intelligence and to me that's damned sexy. So tell those researchers what they can do with their so-called "evidence".

>>One-half of the men WANTED a partner with a sense of humor...

If one half didn't want one, that means it's likely the other half DID>>

Sorta like saying 50% were above the avarege (mean, if you wanna be technical) and 50% were below the average.

Wow, what a breakthrough.

Everyone thinks they have a sense of humor.

Broadsheet seems to specialize in sensationalism. Maybe your writers want a lot of letters to the editor. As pointed out earlier, starting of an article with "we all know men are intimidated by smart women" is reductionist and played out. And the post's title is simply a lie. The study found half of the men didn't like a sense of humor. Half isn't most. Whoever wrote that title should know that.

From my stint working the register in high school and on breaks from college I discovered that most men seem to think that "sense of humor" means "will laugh at any joke they attempt". I can't tell you how many people accused me of not having a sense of humor when I worked there. Whenever anything wouldn't immediately scan, the customer would invariably say, "must be free". I heard this at least 50 times each shift. When I failed to dissolve into hysterics when they made that incredibly witty remark they would then invariably get angry that I didn't have a "sense of humor".

It actually refreshing to think that there are guys out there who won't get offended when girls don't giggle at their lame jokes.

Don't keep your mouth shut. If you're witty and your potential partner/date/whatever flees, make wicked fun of him and then hook up with someone with a brain.

Maybe "Broadsheet" should be re-named "Broadbrush" - as in "painting with too broad a..."?

I wish I could remember where I read this comment: men are afraid women will laugh at them; women are afraid men will kill them.

Apparently most women don't want a man with a sense of humour.

I presume that broadsheet, in keeping with its secret mission statement will find something negative o say about this, i.e "We all know women are threatened by men who laugh"

And getting laid has gotten me relationships. Guys who don't think I'm funny are dumb, and guys who don't like me because I'm funny probably aren't funny themselves.

It solves itself: unfunny people end up with unfunny people and no one gets hurt.