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Thursday, October 25, 2007 12:00 AM

What's so funny about abusive girlfriends?

News about women's role in domestic violence inspires comedy, as well as cries in defense of men.

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  • Friday, October 26, 2007 10:41 AM

    getting kicked in the nuts

    is a male humor phenomenon.

    Women do not, as a rule, find that scenario to be a real knee-slapper.

    My proof?

    How many "chick-flicks" or "chick-lit" books feature scenes where someone kicks a guy in the balls in a moment of levity? It's not a popular motif of genres that cater to women.

    How many films, tv shows, books and comedy sketches aimed at males aged 14-40 feature nut-kicking scenes or stories?

    Ah.

    (My personal favorite? Hiomer Simpson trying to judge indie films for Springfield's film festival. Barney Gumbal submitted a beautiful Felini-esque art piece, but 'Football in the Groin' had a football in the groin! Doh!)

    I suspect more men than women find woman-on-man abuse depictions "cute" or "funny" for 2 reasons: 1. the schadenfreude moment of "Better you than me, pal" and 2. the confidence to laugh at something one knows will likely never affect them. Plenty of women find humor in disrespecting men (Deborah Baronne as the patron saint of Wives of Clueless Husbands), but few women find humor in anybody hitting anyone.

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