Hitchens searches for "the sweet surrender of female laughter",

and he gets mine!

Hitchens ponders Why Women Aren't Funny

Be your gender what it may, you will certainly have heard the following from a female friend who is enumerating the charms of a new (male) squeeze: "He's really quite cute, and he's kind to my friends, and he knows all kinds of stuff, and he's so funny … " (If you yourself are a guy, and you know the man in question, you will often have said to yourself, "Funny? He wouldn't know a joke if it came served on a bed of lettuce with sauce béarnaise.") However, there is something that you absolutely never hear from a male friend who is hymning his latest (female) love interest: "She's a real honey, has a life of her own … [interlude for attributes that are none of your business] … and, man, does she ever make 'em laugh."

In this article, Hitchens is, indeed, to use his own words, very funny, generating - at least in me,

real, out-loud, head-back, mouth-open-to-expose-the-full-horseshoe-of-lovely-teeth, involuntary, full, and deep-throated mirth.

However, one thing he failed to notice is that women like men that are funny because men, who are normally guarded, are very revealing when they are funny.

Here's the situation (listen up if you're visiting from Planet Oprah):

Guys don't like to talk about their feelings.
But a guy will tell you a lot about himself and what he thinks about you, and how comfortable he is when he's with you when he says something that makes you laugh. He may not be trying to be funny, but you can find great honesty in humor.

And then there's the fact that the more comfortable a man is with somebody, the more things there are that become fair game to laugh about.

I mean, what woman wouldn't want a guy like this? (and he's got the beer chilling, too!)


So let's thank all the fun and funny guys who like "the sweet surrender of female laughter".

This woman doesn't think Hitchens is funny at all, and neither did her commenters.

What say you?

Update, Saturday 9 December Reading Jeremayakovka's lovely post, Charm School: Fausta-, Dorothy Parker-, and Grandmother-Style, I must clarify that I place a premium not on honesty as of itself, but in the comfort zone that brings in humor, self-disclosure, and a sense of fun. You can't have fun when uncomfortable.
And Jeremayakovka's right when he talks about charm.

(technorati tags men women relationships Christopher Hitchens)