Comments on: The BBC says: humour “comes from testosterone.”Holly says: bad reporting “comes from the BBC.”

By: Katy Coxall

Katy Coxall — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 17:28:53 +0000

Mindful that I endeavour to write comedy, two people reported this BBC article to me. Indeed, on the grounds of the article’s authoritative status, there was a suggestion by one, albeit the seasonal drunk, that because of my gender I should give up writing comedy altogether. This was bad enough but when I read the article (see here) it escalated out of all proportion with its attack on all women. In addition to its implication that women write inferior comedy the article postulates that women are the cause of male aggression, arguing that male aggression stems from the testosterone males were exposed to in their mothers’ wombs. People’s gullibility combined with their cultural assumptions dictates that at least some of the readers of this BBC authenticated “health” article now believe that male testosterone is good (it produces humour and fun) and female testosterone is bad (it produces male aggression and nastiness). To some this could be final proof that women should be banned from writing comedy, giving birth, positions of power and all of their established rights. I enjoyed the original article (see here) – especially the methodology described and its scientific reasoning which led the conductor of the experiment to ride his unicycle in a “neutral” manner - I’m pleased that the retired professor achieved such coverage. But google returned almost 10,000 related articles “shuster, testosterone, humour” and most of those I read upheld the the gullible assumers’ profile and deductions described above. Accordingly, I’m now extremely worried about the effects that spoofs such as this could have in the future or have already had. Will history show that spoofers cause more trouble than they’re worth? Do we need laws against spoofers and their activities? Spoof is an excellent means of pointing out ridiculous behaviour. For instance Wilma Proops (a spoof Agony Aunt who has the ONLY Comedy Problem Page in the world), The Goddess of Football (who decides which teams wins and dictates HER followers be in touch with their feminine sides) and Theodore Parker Bowles (the Arts Czar who calls for the education of the plebeians via the Arts) bat out ad hoc agitations on issues as diverse as employment laws, men, the wearing of perfume, yobbish behaviour and the undeniable rights of the middle class to dominate the Arts. Without the laws called for above, these spoofs alone could be held responsible for the lack of toilet facilities for office workers, the daily ladling on of pungent perfumes, congratulations to men who behave like shits, belch, puke and stalk and yet more pretentious crap on screen and in poetry.

By: Laser Potato

Laser Potato — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 23:14:55 +0000

“I’ve always thought of the BBC as one of the most reliable news sources, but I remember scratching my head when I read that news story, so I’m not surprised that the original “study” turns out to be a joke.”
I was thinking the same thing. I’m just waiting for a punchline like:
“The BBC would like to make an apology. Last week we told you about a set of scientific studies that concluded humour came from testosterone. The studies actually concluded that humour, in fact, originates in the spleen. (image of spleen fills screen) We are deeply sorry for any offence this error may have caused.”

By: Ben

Ben — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 18:25:17 +0000

Wow, LOL, I can’t believe someone working for the BBC made such an egregious error. I’ve always thought of the BBC as one of the most reliable news sources, but I remember scratching my head when I read that news story, so I’m not surprised that the original “study” turns out to be a joke.

By: Lauren

Lauren — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 19:31:25 +0000

My female co-workers pulled a pretty subversive prank on me yesterday. I've been chuckling about it all day, but what do I know. I'm just a wimmenz.

By: Ledasmom

Ledasmom — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 19:17:55 +0000

I am reminded of the father of an acquaintance who used to tell jokes incessantly. Nearly every joke ended with the punchline “The one with the biggest breasts, of course!” I am also reminded of Pratchett’s “The Fifth Elephant” in which Vimes says “You’ll know I’ve gotten onto the famous Ankh-Morpork sense of humor when I start talking about breasts and farting!” (Terry Pratchett, by the way, apparently has early-onset Alheimer’s; there is no justice in this world that this should happen to a genuinely funny man).
It’s my theory that much of what passes for guy humor simply touches on a few points that the guy community has tacitly agreed to recognize as funny, in much the same way that certain female physical attributes are generally accepted as sexy regardless of whether they ring a particular guy’s chimes or not. It’s easier that way, you see. But what the hell do I know about humor anyway? I’ve been razzing a friend for months now about her drawing of Norway.

By: rootlesscosmo

rootlesscosmo — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 05:20:17 +0000

Here

http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005246.html

is Language Log on the BBC’s stubborn cluelessness. Apparently the British Medical Journal regularly publishes an end-of-year spoof edition; just as regularly, the BBC treats it as sober science, and actually defends this when it’s pointed out they’ve been fooled again. I think maybe the Catholic doctrine of Invincible Ignorance may apply here.

By: Modalmixture

Modalmixture — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 04:52:26 +0000

Oh man, good find Holly! If anything, the original paper is actually a satire of those BS studies that breathlessly claim to have found some new biological difference between women and men. Seriously, how can a reporter – for the BBC no less – be that gullible? Kind of scary how someone can accept almost any piece of data so uncritically when it happens to fit the preexisting narrative that they’ve been fed.

By: exholt

exholt — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 04:11:08 +0000

This often turns out to be the case with “what the hell?” science reporting stories. If you read the original study, it’s not nearly as overreaching and wacky as the media makes it sound.

I’ve noticed this when many “science reporters” in the MSM have an irritating habit of oversimplifying and mangling computer technical news to fit a catchy headline and/or to appease some corporate entity. This, along with the fact many “science reporters” have little, if any science/technical background are reasons why I take MSM science reporting with several barrels of salt.

By: Feministe » Damn Funny Women! (part 2)

Feministe » Damn Funny Women! (part 2) — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 01:09:07 +0000

[...] « The BBC says: humour “comes from testosterone.”Holly says: bad reporting “comes fr… [...]

By: SnowdropExplodes

SnowdropExplodes — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 00:09:42 +0000

It’s long been known that men score more highly on measures of “humour” or comedy. However, the reason for this has also been long known:

Put simply, women are less likely to laugh at sexual innuendo, because a lot of the time, such innuendo happens to be sexist.

On all other types of humour, women and men score more or less equally.

(Source for this info is some “test your personality” book I had a while back)