Weird. My first thought reading that even men! parenthetical was not that the author actually had a dim view of men.
If the parenthetical read "even women!" that would not be perceived as a minute poke at the female ego. Commentary would be at least an order of magnitude louder/more inflamed. You know damn well there would never be an "even women!" parenthetical by any author who cared about their career.
So it's weird for you to take what little commentary there is and shoehorn it into 'minute poke at the male ego'. Honestly I paid way more attention to it due to your comment, otherwise it would have just slid out of my awareness.
If the parenthetical read "even women!" that would not be perceived as a minute poke at the female ego. Commentary would be at least an order of magnitude louder/more inflamed. You know damn well there would never be an "even women!" parenthetical by any author who cared about their career.
So it's weird for you to take what little commentary there is and shoehorn it into 'minute poke at the male ego'. Honestly I paid way more attention to it due to your comment, otherwise it would have just slid out of my awareness.