By Gina Angostura
Columnist

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You know what’s funny? The difference between a man’s and a woman’s sense of humor.

I’ve given some serious thought to this subject, and I’ve discovered a definite dividing line between the sexes.

Some theorists claim it’s a slapstick thing. Men love the Three Stooges, for instance, while women find them repugnant. I’m a woman, however, and I actually like the Three Stooges, so it can’t be that.

One man even told me I should introduce myself that way to men – “Hi, I’m Gina, and I love the Three Stooges” – and I’d be sure to have them lining up to go out with me. That’d be great. Then I could go down the line, dope-slapping and eye-poking each one until I found one I liked. I’d definitely enjoy that. But maybe a little too much.

No, the humor line is much more specific than “nyucks” and “Hey Moes.” After much study and observation, I place the divider squarely on the fart.

It’s the simple truth. Men think flatulence is hilarious Women don’t.

Women are embarrassed if they fart in public. They will put themselves through great physical pain to see that it doesn’t happen, say at a movie theater. If they really must, they wait until they are in private, which means at home with no one else around. Even then they blush. I couldn’t even say the word “fart” until I was well into my 20s.

Men see farting like apes see beating their chests – as a show of manly supremacy. A guy never grows out of the juvenile satisfaction of knowing they are stinking up the room. After they “let one,” as my brothers used to genteelly call it, they look around the room slyly to make sure their effort is duly appreciated. The most educated and urbane men I know, men who speak several languages, have an excellent understanding of history and politics and love poetry will fall into a convulsive fit of giggles at either the word or the deed.

And lest any of you think this all started with the campfire scene in “Blazing Saddles,” I assure you the use of passing gas in humor has a long and varied history. Just look up “farts” on Wikipedia. The entries are long and resounding, so to speak.

From Aristophanes to Chaucer to James Joyce, the fart has been a surefire way to get an always-cheap laugh. Note that these are all male authors. The only reference you’ll find to cutting the cheese in women’s literature is perhaps in a pastoral romance set on a dairy farm. And no, you men out there, I am not referring to cow farts. Stop sniggering.

So it seems the fart joke has always been with us. There is no escaping this silent but deadly form of humor. Men will forever be foisting it upon us, whether we like it or not.

Most likely while holding our heads under the blankets.

Gina would like to hear from you. Drop her a line at si nglecynic@manchestermirror. net. Be careful what you wish for, though, she may write back.