Where you “attribute [your] distraction entirely to the sense that it was directed at a presumed male audience”, I attribute my distraction entirely to the sense that it was directed at a presumed American audience.
Here’s where your analogy runs off the rails. Alicorn’s text isn’t directed at a presumed American audience—it’s directed at an audience presumed to be able to infer that Mountain Dew contains caffeine where she lives. Your rejoinder skips over this exact point made by Alicorn:
I wouldn’t have blinked if Psychohistorian had phrased the original remark about women as “I’ll still find women alluring”, making it about himself instead of about women.
My rejoinder did not so much skip the point as not see the point as significant. One of the strengths of analogies is that they can help trace where exactly the difference in thinking or opinion lies. I actually don’t see Psycho’s presumption of audience as more significant than that of Alicorn; I can infer that Psycho is speaking from his individual experience as a male just as easily as that Ali is speaking from her individual experience as an American.
The difference is that Phycohistorian was describing experiences that he intended the audience to recognize and identify with as their own, while Alicorn was describing her own experience as her own unique experience.
That does seem like a bizarre thing for Psycho to intend! I gave him a little more benefit of the doubt. Perhaps I was too generous in my interpretation, I get that a lot!
It isn’t necessarily a deliberate, conscious intent. However:
I know that Mountain Dew contains caffeine and that caffeine will make me alert. However, I also know that I hate Mountain Dew.
vs.
It’s part of that set of things that doesn’t go away no matter what you say or think about them. Women will still be alluring, food will still be delicious, and Michaelangelo’s David will still be beautiful, no matter how well you describe these phenomenon.
Here’s where your analogy runs off the rails. Alicorn’s text isn’t directed at a presumed American audience—it’s directed at an audience presumed to be able to infer that Mountain Dew contains caffeine where she lives. Your rejoinder skips over this exact point made by Alicorn:
My rejoinder did not so much skip the point as not see the point as significant. One of the strengths of analogies is that they can help trace where exactly the difference in thinking or opinion lies. I actually don’t see Psycho’s presumption of audience as more significant than that of Alicorn; I can infer that Psycho is speaking from his individual experience as a male just as easily as that Ali is speaking from her individual experience as an American.
The difference is that Phycohistorian was describing experiences that he intended the audience to recognize and identify with as their own, while Alicorn was describing her own experience as her own unique experience.
That does seem like a bizarre thing for Psycho to intend! I gave him a little more benefit of the doubt. Perhaps I was too generous in my interpretation, I get that a lot!
It isn’t necessarily a deliberate, conscious intent. However:
vs.
Surely you see the difference?