I'd never noticed that before, but it's true. After thinking about it for 30 seconds, here's what I think:

It's about power.

A person who makes others laugh holds a kind of power over them, a control of their feelings. We're comfortable letting men have this kind of power over us because we're comfortable having men be the boss, hold the floor. We're more reluctant to give a woman that power, especially if she already has sexual power.

Most people -- men and women -- prefer and value a powerful man, which is why we follow strong leaders, elect more men, and laugh more at funny men. This is also why, as a guy, being funny is important when trying to meet women. Being funny isn't just for breaking the ice; it also sets a power dynamic of the man controlling the woman's emotions, "handling" her, which she usually likes, if he does a good job and doesn't seriously offend her. It shows he's confident, powerful, in control, and can make her feel happy -- all good things from a woman's perspective. On the other hand, men don't like being controlled by women, and so typically don't find funny women attractive, as much as intimidating.

Every successful female comedian I can think of is a ditz (lack of mental power), a lesbian (no threat to women, not an option for men), or doesn't have sexual attractiveness: Ellen Degeneres, Roseanne Barr, Rosie O'Donnell, Joan Rivers. None of these women hold any sexual power over men, so women can safely laugh at them too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Finkelstein

Norman Gary Finkelstein (born December 8, 1953) is an American political scientist and author, whose primary fields of research are the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the politics of the Holocaust. A graduate of Binghamton University, he received his Ph.D in Political Science from Princeton University. He has held faculty positions at Brooklyn College, Rutgers University, Hunter College, New York University, and, most recently, DePaul University, where he was an assistant professor from 2001 to 2007.

Finkelstein is credited by Avi Shlaim, Adam Shatz, Noam Chomsky and others with exposing Joan Peters' book From Time Immemorial as a "fraud" and "a monumental hoax". Amidst considerable public debate, Finkelstein was denied tenure at DePaul in June 2007, and placed on administrative leave for the 2007-2008 academic year. Among the controversial aspects of this decision were attempts by Alan Dershowitz, a notable opponent of Finkelstein's, to derail Finkelstein's tenure bid.[1] On September 5, 2007 Finkelstein announced his resignation after coming to a settlement with the university on generally undisclosed terms.[2][3] An official statement from DePaul strongly defended the decision to deny Finkelstein tenure, and asserted that outside influence played no role in their decision. The statement also praised Finkelstein "as a prolific scholar and outstanding teacher."[4]

Tags for this video have been changed from 'live, acoustic, joan, rust, halford' to 'live, acoustic, joan, rust, halford, bob dylan' - edited by rasch187

I thought the movie kind of blew, but Joan Cusack was good. LL Cool J wasn't bad either.

In reply to this comment by enoch:
this was a pretty good movie.i like how it played on the theme of joan of arc's either divine providence or schizophrenia.it did not promote either/or it let the viewer interpret.
Real or imagined, it was her unshakable belief that led others to then believe in her at a time they needed to believe in something the most. Insane or divinely inspired, the result was the same. That's this viewers interpretation anyway...

this was a pretty good movie.i like how it played on the theme of joan of arc's either divine providence or schizophrenia.it did not promote either/or it let the viewer interpret.

I've waited sooo long to find a good video of this song to sift. Joan Baez has such a beautiful voice and this is some awesome footage. *promote!

Agreed on all accounts.

In reply to this comment by shuac:
Theme song to Freaks & Geeks, a wonderful and under-appreciated show!!

p.s. nothing rocks quite like a Gibson Les Paul

Though I'm no stranger to rock and roll, I was unable to recognize all the riffs, so I copy/pasted the below list from the Brodie Cumming web site for reference:

1 Stairway To Heaven - Led Zeppelin
2 Smoke on the Water - Deep Purple
3 Sweet Child O' Mine - Guns & Roses
4 Wanted Dead Or Alive - Bon Jovi
5 Layla - Eric Clapton
6 Black Magic Woman - Santana
7 No More Mr. Nice Guy - Alice Cooper
8 Beat It - Michael Jackson
9 Crazy Train - Ozzy Osbourne
10 Dr. Feelgood - Motely Crue
11 Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
12 Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd
13 Cowboys From Hell - Pantera
14 Enter Sandman - Metallica
15 Mister Sandman - Chet Atkins
16 One Step Closer - Linkin Park
17 Back In Black - AC/DC
18 Purple Haze - Jimi Hendrix
19 Black Dog - Led Zeppelin
20 Crazy On You - Heart
21 Immigrant Song - Led Zeppelin
22 Bulls On Parade - Rage Against the Machine
23 Unchained - Van Halen
24 Bad To The Bone - George Thorogood
25 Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry
26 Surfing with the Alien - Joe Satriani
27 Money For Nothing - Dire Straits
28 Cult Of Personality - Living Colour
29 Start Me Up - Rolling Stones
30 Sunshine of your Love - Cream
31 Runnin' with the Devil - Van Halen
32 Hells Bells - AC/DC
33 Foxy Lady - Jimi Hendrix
34 Frankenstein - The Edgar Winter Group
35 Aqualung - Jethro Tull
36 In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida - Iron Butterfly
37 Carry On Wayward Son - Kansas
38 (Don't Fear) The Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult
39 Cemetary Gates - Pantera
40 Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love - Van Halen
41 Walk This Way - Aerosmith
42 Tonight 'm Gonna Rock You (Tonight) - Spinal Tap
43 Life in the Fast Lane - Eagles
44 Come As You Are - Nirvana
45 Zero - Smashing Pumpkins
46 Nothin' But A Good Time - Poison
47 Round n Round - Ratt
48 It's Not Love - Dokken
49 Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo - Rick Derringer
50 Norwegian Wood - Beatles
51 Under The Bridge - Red Hot Chili Peppers
52 Kashmir - Led Zeppelin
53 Train Kept A-Rolling - The Yardbirds
54 Blackbird - Beatles
55 Eye of the Tiger - Survivor
56 All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix
57 Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
58 Ace Of Spades - Motorhead
59 Breaking The Law - Judas Priest
60 King of the Hill Theme - Brian David Blush/Roger Meade Clyne
61 All Right Now - Free
62 Are You Gonna Go My Way - Lenny Kravitz
63 When I Come Around - Green Day
64 Trilogy Suite Op.5 - Yngwie Malmsteen
65 Born To Run - Bruce Springsteen
66 Pretty Woman - Roy Orbison
67 Day Tripper - Beatles
68 Panama - Van Halen
69 Born To Be Wild - Steppenwolf
70 More Than A Feeling - Boston
71 Cat Scratch Fever - Ted Nugent
72 Bark At The Moon - Ozzy Osbourne
73 Hair Of The Dog - Nazareth
74 No More Tears - Ozzy Osbourne
75 Just A Girl - No Doubt
76 Iron Man - Black Sabbath
77 Sweet Emotion - Aerosmith
78 Pride And Joy - Stevie Ray Vaughn
79 Sharp Dressed Man - ZZ Top
80 Machine Head - Bush
81 Black Or White - Michael Jackson
82 Sultans Of Swing - Dire Straits
83 Hey Joe - Jimi Hendrix
84 Whole Lotta Love - Led Zeppelin
85 10 Years Gone - Led Zeppelin
86 Wild Thing - The Troggs
87 Owner Of A Lonely Heart - Yes
88 Magic Carpet Ride - Steppenwolf
89 I Love Rock N ' Roll - Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
90 Brown Sugar - Rolling Stones
91 La Bamba - Los Lobos
92 China Grove - Doobie Brothers
93 You Really Got Me - Van Halen
94 Wipe Out - The Surfaris
95 House Of The Rising Sun - The Animals
96 Dust In The Wind - Kansas
97 Rhiannon - Fleetwood Mac
98 Susie Q - Creedence Clearwater Revival
99 Voodoo Child - Jimi Hendrix
100 Eruption - Van Halen

holy crap. I didn't need to think of Joan Rivers that way, tho it WAS funneh

Holy shit I looove Joan Rivers! I'd like to see the whole roast please thank you

so...the french have the best healthcare and the biggest average penis size. i guess joan of arc wasn't fucking around about leading them to victory. who knew?

awesome!!!!!

joan rivers vagina= burned into my brain

Joan Walsh was clever in the way she handled herself. Usually O'reilly's guests end up being over spoken and come across like props in a monologue.

i..i...i think im in love with joan walsh.
for those who didnt see the first part of this clip:
http://www.videosift.com/video/The-O-Reilly-Guilt-Trip
she has actually taken his own rhetoric that he used to berate her and smashed him in the face with it.
BRLLIANTLY done miss walsh.
i shall now proceed to stalk miss walsh......