Same thing I thought. Really “I suppose it saves on tyres” is a put-down? Maybe it's the author who doesn't have a sense of humour.
OTOH he thinks women saying “You should dress up as Santa for the children” is praise and not a put-down.
OTOH he thinks women saying “You should dress up as Santa for the children” is praise and not a put-down.
Any question which isn't asked with the intention of receiving a response can be considered snark, which while it may not directly be intended as a put-down, is still insulting because it is making light of the author who is not obviously partaking in unicycling to make people laugh.
Nobody is suggesting that humorous comments are an "attack". The point of the article was to differentiate between the joking comments made by men and the more benign comments made by women. Making light of someone's activity is still belittling, even if not a direct insult. Even if not said directly, the implication is "you're doing something I find funny."
> people go "huh that's weird I have to say something let's try gentle humor"
That seems to be the crux of the matter: people who a) believe they need to say something at all, b) decide that it must be something "funny", and then c) actually say it out loud. Have those people ever stopped to consider that their opinion isn't wanted?
Being born with 2 leg, they aren't "going out of [their] way" though..
Yes. I will frequently find what other people are doing to be funny, even absurd. I will often vocalize it. You will not convince me this a moral wrong. I am, however, open to other people vocalizing this about my behavior. Recently, I purchased one of every bran flake cereal in the cereal aisle to determine which was best. I received light jest from the public who viewed my cart. It made sense, because what I was doing was bizarre. I was not injured. It was not an attack. I probably shouldn't do it regularly.
I do attempt to avoid jest about things people have no or minimal control over (race, disability, disfigurement, sexual orientation) or that are core pieces of people's life (religion or lack thereof, financial status, spouse). I am willing to be corrected by someone passionate about a subject. I am also very willing to be wrong, if someone demonstrates that unicycling is actually a way better method of transportation.
They do not care about correcting you and why should they. No one has any reason to try to convince you about unicycle effectivity, regardless of reason they drive it for.
(Seriously I think it really depends on the tone and context.)