Story perspectives

Study Finds Humor Boosts Men’s Status, Lowers Women’s

By Drooid · Sep 15, 2026, 12:32 AM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

Cultural scholars say medieval hierarchies treated women’s laughter as a social threat.
Professor Maggie Hennefeld cites 19th-century accounts of hundreds of women dying from laughter, including an 1893 Philadelphia case.
A 2019 study finds workplace humor raises men’s status while lowering women’s.
Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris have faced disproportionate scrutiny of their laughter compared with male peers.

History

Historical Context

On July 19-20 1848, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott convened the Seneca Falls Convention in New York, where Frederick Douglass spoke and the Declaration of Sentiments was signed by 68 women and 32 men. A 2019 study cited by researcher Maggie Hennefeld shows that contemporary leaders such as Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris still endure humor-based status penalties, echoing the convention’s challenge to gendered silencing.

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Story summary

Cultural scholars say medieval hierarchies treated women’s laughter as a social threat.
Professor Maggie Hennefeld cites 19th-century accounts of hundreds of women dying from laughter, including an 1893 Philadelphia case.
A 2019 study finds workplace humor raises men’s status while lowering women’s.
Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris have faced disproportionate scrutiny of their laughter compared with male peers.

1 / 2