Stolen from ''The Hitch'' (Christopher Hitchens)

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2007/01/hitchens200701

''Men are overawed, not to say terrified, by the ability of women to produce babies. (Asked by a lady intellectual to summarize the differences between the sexes, another bishop responded, "Madam, I cannot conceive.") It gives women an unchallengeable authority. And one of the earliest origins of humor that we know about is its role in the mockery of authority. Irony itself has been called "the glory of slaves." So you could argue that when men get together to be funny and do not expect women to be there, or in on the joke, they are really playing truant and implicitly conceding who is really the boss.''

At heart, we remain in Year 9... loosening our ties in defiance.