I am not speaking for how others took it but I did not see it as offensive. Written the other way I would have -- so the direction of such a comment is part of the meaning.In any other situation the perspective of 'the eye of the beholder' is generally sufficient to establish a case.
Not sure I follow what you are trying to say.
My point is that there is clearly a difference in the direction. Since I am a man, presumably I would be offended by this comment (if it were offensive to men) but I was not.
The difference is that men and women are not on an equal footing in our society when it comes to power. They are getting closer but there is a difference. This is the context of the statement.
The comment was not individual and so I struggle to see your difficulty. On gender issues men, having accumulated centuries of advantage that has not been erased entirely, can accept a little sarcasm, understanding that this is not meant aggressivley towards them personally but against the injustice of inequality. Sarcasm was used effectively to make a point. I thought the point was clear -- and was hostile only to inequality and not to an individual here. In the context I don't find that men were the target so much as inequality.
My comment was just to indicate how I took it personally -- others may take it differently and of course they are welcome to do so. Since this is a discussion forum, I made my comments a personal reaction.