One woman's 'breakthrough'.

From Difference Works by Caroline Turner. Copyright 2012 by the author. Published by Live Oak Book Co. (www.liveoak-bookcompany.com).

NO ONE HAS EVER DISAGREED with me in my workshops when I've said that men and women have different senses of humor. Women sometimes describe male humor as "male bashing." Men scratch their heads at what makes women giggle.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

When I worked in a large corporation and first joined the senior team, I was the only woman. In our staff meetings, the humor shared among the CEO and my peers seemed crude and harsh to me. They punched each other (hard) on the arm. They made digs at one another. Taking this rather literally, I concluded that, underneath it all, they didn't like or respect one another. How could they, and treat one another this way? Only when I hired a coach who understood gender differences did the lights come on. This was male humor! And it was foreign to me. Then they started poking fun at me, making light insults -- though they never punched me in the arm. With my newly gained awareness of masculine-feminine differences, I saw such behavior as a positive sign that they were comfortable with me and saw me...

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