As far as Internet discussions go, I’ve learned that you literally just have to grow a bit of a thicker skin and not take everything too seriously. Especially the abusive stuff.

The people responding to you do not know you personally, in fact they pretty much know nothing about you except what you posted. Something that’s harmless and inoffensive to one person or relatable to another can be off-putting and offensive to the next. The only way to achieve at least a little bit of clarity is to engage in an open discussion about it if it seems worth the time and effort.

Otherwise, my rule of thumb is that if someone just starts blasting insults at me they’ve already lost the argument and I’m just going to ignore them because that’s their own issue to figure out. It might be frustrating sometimes, especially if you think you’ve made a valid point and all you get is hate in return, but at least you’ll retain your sanity. And perhaps it’s a chance to rethink how to better communicate your point, but I don’t think going out there and wholesale accusing an entire gender is going to do anything to calm the waves.