This is the way everyone sees it when they are criticized. 

What matters more is if the intent of the criticism is ultimately to be constructive, and if the group's primary goal is to do the right thing. I think problem-oriented and solution-oriented criticism are both valid forms, and the former is about asking for acknowledgement or consensus, rather than arriving with the tablets from the hill. Maybe drop the pretentious white-collar y-combinator gate for this one and see what happens?