On Wednesday, April 20^th, Dr. Regina Barreca will speak to the SE CT Women’s NETWORK membership and guests. Deemed a ‘feminist humor maven’ by Ms. Magazine, Gina Barreca is the author of “It’s Not That I’m Bitter: How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Visible Panty Lines and Conquered the World.”  Humorist Dave Barry comments, “Very, very funny. For a Woman.”

Dr. Barreca has appeared  on 20/20, 48 Hours, NPR, the BBC, The Today Show, CNN, Joy Behar, and Oprah to discuss gender, power, politics and humor. “If you can encourage people to laugh with you, you have won them over, however, briefly, to your side. You have created an atmosphere of consensus, a moment of agreement when everyone is in sync,” she writes. “Humor functions as a sort of social cement, especially in tense or competitive work situations. Laughing together creates and reinforces a sense of solidarity and intimacy within groups. Humor can effectively create a situation where those individuals who might be on opposite sides of an issue can at least share a moment where their perspectives are aligned.”

Many have enjoyed interviewing Barreca or listening to her speaking because of many reasons, among them: she brings the party with her; she has ZERO shame; she combines a Brooklyn sense of straight-from-the-hip humor with a professor’s sense of erudite, articulate sophistication; she doesn’t work from notes or scripts – she works with her interviewer and her audience; she’s ironic yet upbeat, fast-talking yet thoughtful, and inevitably provocative even when she is most charming; and with many of her books translated into eight languages and her many appearances on Oprah and other shows as well as speeches around the world, Barreca knows  how to delight a wide range of readers, listeners and viewers.

“Humor is essential in an environment where change and adaptation are key factors. Being able to grasp and hold onto a positive sense of humor can help people face risk, take chances, and move towards a better perspective on their situation at work and at home.”

“We need laughter in our lives. We can and should choose laughter at moments of crisis, during times of change, and whenever we need a new perspective. The stories we tell ourselves and the ones we tell each other give us a way to understand and change the world. Laughing together is as close as you can get to somebody without actually giving that person a hug – and sometimes laughter can bring you even closer.”

Her earlier books include the best selling “They Used to Call Me Snow White But I Drifted: Women’s Strategic Use of Humor,” as well as “Perfect Husbands and Other Fairy Tales: Demystifying Men, Marriage and Romance,” and “Sweet Revenge: The Wicked Delights of Getting Even.” She’s the editor of seventeen books, including “The Signet Book of American Humor” and “The Penguin Book of Women’s Humor” as well as “The Erotics of Instruction” and “A Sit-Down With the Sopranos.” She writes for the “Brainstorm” section of the Chronicle of Higher Education, blogs for Psychology Today, does a weekly column for The Hartford Courant, a monthly column for Principal Leadership, and occasionally spars with her co-author of “I’m With Stupid: One Man. One Woman. 10,000 Years of Misunderstandings Between the Sexes Cleared Right Up,” Gene Weingarten, in his “Below the Beltway” column in the Washington Post.

With degrees from Dartmouth College, Cambridge University, and the City University of New York, Barreca is Professor of English and Feminist Theory at the University of Connecticut. She and her husband, Michael Meyer, make their home in Storrs, CT.

Gina Barreca and her husband founded Gina’s Friends, a fund dedicated to providing essential healthcare services to women from all walks of life, as a part of Windham Hospital. For more information on this necessary service, go to http://www.windhamhospital.org/wh.nsf/View/GinasFriends.

Dr. Regina Barreca is one of America’s most celebratory, witty, engaging writers and speakers. Her audiences love her, and so will you. Share a lunch with Dr. Barreca and a lot of humor at the Southeastern CT Women’s NETWORK luncheon, Wednesday, April 20, 2011, from 11:30 to 1:00. The cost is $19 with reservations and $23 without. Call (860) 437-7448 by Monday, April 18th, at 10am. For more information, go to www.sectwomensnetwork.org.

By HWO Staff

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