The whole “I’m not bigoted, I hate everyone equally” thing is really getting up my nose lately.
Okay, let’s assume for the sake of argument that your self-assessment is both honest and correct, and that you really do shit on all groups equally. (This is unlikely for a variety of reasons, but let’s just go with it.) The trouble is, not all groups are equally vulnerable to the consequences of being shat upon.
We’re not talking about hurt feelings here; a remark that would do little more than annoy an upper-middle-class white boy like me could easily cause someone with a less advantageous position in the old race/class/gender hierarchy to become a target of ridicule, harassment, or even violence. Even when it doesn’t, it may nonetheless reinforce the attitudes that would condone such harassment – whether you mean for it to or not.
Indeed, if you’re high enough on the food chain, you may indirectly benefit from negative stereotyping. For example, stereotypes about women often serve to shift the locus of blame for male sexual misconduct. (e.g., “she’s probably lying – you know how vindictive women are.”) Stereotypes about men also frequently serve to shift the locus of blame for male sexual misconduct. (e.g., “everybody knows guys are animals – she should have known better.”) Superficially identical mechanisms of abuse thus operate very differently depending on who they’re aimed at.
The upshot is that even if your vitriol really is directed at everyone equally, the on-the-ground effect of your fashionable misanthropy is functionally indistinguishable from that of bigotry.