That’s why I respect you!

Footnote

To understand this joke, one needs to know the lines from a poem of N. Nekrason "Мороз, красный нос" (Frost, red nose):

Есть женщины в русских селеньях...
...В беде — не сробеет, — спасёт,
Коня на скаку остановит,
В горящую избу войдёт...

There are women in Russian villages ...
In trouble, she will not get frightened but save,
She will stop a galloping horse,
And enter a burning hut...

The commonly known version of these lines sounds as follows:

"Русская баба коня на ходу остановит и в горящую избу войдёт."
"The Russian woman will stop a galloping and enter the burning hut."

"Женщина" in this phrase is replace with the word "баба" (colloqiual vesion of "women", similar to "мужчина - мужик"). At the same time, the word "баба" can sound slightly disrespectful as it is often used when talking about common negative cliches of women's behavior.

In the joke, Vanya asks Vasya if he could do such heroic things as described in the poem. And when Vasya replies no, he turns it around and finds the reason to respect his friend anyway because he is not a "баба" in the "cliche" sense.