There's a reasonable chance "You should dress up as Santa for the children" is intended as a positive suggestion. There's very little chance "I suppose it saves on tyres" is anything but a snide remark, since nobody in their right mind really thinks unicyclists are trying to save on tires by not riding bikes.
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.
Unicycling is fedora-like because you're going out of your way to do something that's less efficient. You know it's going to provoke a reaction because it's unusual. It's different than something like a guy with no legs because he didn't chose to have no legs. If you just love unicycling keep your chin up fight the good fight believe in yourself, but don't imply you're "under attack" because people go "huh that's weird I have to say something let's try gentle humor". The people with pithy comebacks in this comment section are doing it correctly.
Efficiency has nothing to do with it. One doesn't get a free pass to make fun of, say, pedestrians just because they're less energy efficient than bicyclists.
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?
>Even if not said directly, the implication is "you're doing something I find funny."
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.
He is saying that it is annoying and has an effect of discouraging people from completely valid activities. Basically, it is uncomfortable to people who have to deal with those remarks and they then seen to avoid those remarks.
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.
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.