If you follow the US entertainment business closely, you have probably noticed that it’s a good time for female-led comedy. Comediennes like Tina Fey and Amy Schumer prove that women in showbiz can win over legions of fans with their wisecracking rather than their looks.

如果你紧跟美国娱乐业潮流，你大概注意到这是女性主演的喜剧的黄金时期。妙语连珠的喜剧女演员，如蒂娜•菲和艾米•舒默，不靠脸也能在娱乐圈混得风生水起，吸引大批粉丝。

But before you reach the conclusion that funny women are the new hot women, a recent Atlantic article puts a damper on things.

然而在你得出幽默的女人是新款性感尤物的结论前，《大西洋月刊》最近刊登的一篇文章将会让你大失所望。

According to the article, outside of the showbiz world, women still can’t win men’s hearts with their humor alone.

据该文章说，娱乐圈外的女人仅凭幽默感根本无法赢得男人的心。

The article, titled “Plight of the Funny Female”, looks at several studies that try to find out if women can be equally as funny as men. The answer to that is positive. But then why is it that it’s always the guy who tells the joke to a gaggle of enraptured female onlookers?

这篇名为《幽默妹纸的困境》的文章着眼于几项调查，它们试图找出女性是否能像男性一样逗趣。问题的答案是乐观的。不过为什么人群中总是男人讲着段子让一群女听众笑到炸裂呢？

Other studies found that while humor in men is deemed as a desirable quality, humor in women is less appreciated.

另外一些研究发现，幽默感被视为男性的理想特质，而有幽默感的女性则不太受待见。

Men try hard to make people – especially their potential mates– laugh. That’s because doing so can demonstrate how smart they are. Research suggests that there is an important link between humor and intelligence.

男人总是使出浑身解数让人们，特别是他们的潜在伴侣哈哈大笑。因为这么做会显得他们很机智。研究指出，幽默感和智力有着重要的关系。

The funniest people are also considered the smartest. Humor “signals a kind of ability to put yourself in someone else’s mind and understand what someone else will find funny,” David Buss, an evolutionary psychologist in the US, was quoted by The Atlantic as saying. “It requires social intelligence, and it takes social verve or confidence.”

最有幽默感的人往往被认为是最聪明的。《大西洋月刊》引用美国进化心理学家大卫•巴斯的话说，幽默“发出某种信号，表明你能够从别人的角度出发，理解别人觉得好玩的事儿“。”这需要社交智慧，社交气魄或自信。“

Evolutionary psychology sees women as being more selective in choosing their mates than men are. Because there is more at stake for women in childbearing, it makes sense for them to find a partner who can provide good genes and resources to their children. And that usually means finding a man with brains.

进化心理学认为女性在选择配偶时比男性更挑剔。因为女性在生育孩子时承当更大的风险，这也解释了为什么她们会选择能为下一代提供优良基因和资源的男性作为伴侣。通俗点说，也就是她们会找智商高的。

But precisely because funny women are smarter, their intelligence seems to push men away.

不过恰恰因为有趣的女人更聪明，她们超群的智力让男人望而却步。

In one study, researchers told men that the women they were about to meet scored higher on intelligence tests than they did. Afterward, the men were asked to rate the women.

在一项研究中，研究者告诉（参加的）男性，他们即将见到的女性在智力测试中的得分比自己更高。之后，研究者要求这些男性评价这些女性。

The results, published in the November edition of the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, found that the men marked the women as less attractive. They also indicated that they were less likely to date high-performing women.

该研究的结果被刊登在11月出版的《人格与社会心理学公报》。结果显示，男性给女性的评价是不怎么吸引人。这项结果也表明男性并不愿意选择高智商的女性作为约会对象。

Another study cited by The Atlantic analyzed casual conversations among young people. It found that while men told jokes in mixed company, women told more jokes when they were in all-female groups. The study posited that “women only joke when men are not around”.

《大西洋月刊》引用的另一项研究则分析了年轻人的闲聊。它发现，男性会在有男有女的场合上说段子，而女性更多是在只有女性一起的场合说。研究断定“女性只有在男性不在场的时候会讲笑话”。

Women can’t use humor as an effective social currency to make themselves more attractive, so they tend not to bother.

幽默感并不能成为女性有效社交的工具，让她们更有魅力，所以她们并不会费心思在此（表现出幽默感）。

In spite of the scientific evidence–and the social pressure for women not to joke – some people still believe women simply aren’t as funny as men. The late British writer Christopher Hitchens once wrote in Vanity Fair magazine explaining why he believes women aren’t funny.

尽管科学证据和社交压力阻止女性成为段子手，还是有人相信，女性就是没男性有幽默感。已故英国作家克里斯托弗•希钦斯曾在《名利场》杂志上解释过为什么他觉得女人不幽默。

While men use humor as a tool to attract women, Hitchens wrote, “Women have no corresponding need to appeal to men in this way. They already appeal to men, if you catch my drift.”

虽然男人用幽默感作为吸引异性的工具，希钦斯写道：“女人并不需要用相应的方法吸引男人。如果你懂了我的意思，（就会知道）她们已经很吸引人了。”