Letters And Numbers:
Ask for clarification if you are confused by what another user is saying, please.
I'm not confused by their words so much as I am perplexed by their conclusion.
And when I asked, "Are you saying?" I'm really asking, "Is this what you're going with?"
At which point OP can either double down or reorganize their thoughts.
This is not to pick at OP. I have no ill will towards them. However, I've seen time and time again where similar clumsy statements embolden the He-man Woman Haters(TM). One particularly memorable thread started with a different OP asking a similar question. It took very little time for a certain flavor of user to swarm the thread and start bashing women.
The OP realized what he did and apologized unprompted. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done, and the woman bashing continued for a few days after the OP apologized.
Once again, I do not think OP is being malicious. We've interacted before, and I never got that vibe from them. But all it takes is one clumsy statement for the gross people to latch onto things.