"Cat Person"

[Anonymous]

This "lit up" the Internet? Really? That's sad, right there.

It was very poorly written, full of every stereotype possible, and completely predictable.

I'm sad for the readers of the world.

[Anonymous]

Horrible. I was an English major once upon a time and this might have gotten laughed out of my creative writing class.

I don’t get the title.

I’m a woman.

[Anonymous]

I read a lot of literature.

I don't find this horribly written. It was, methinks, quite well written. Because it's so very ordinary. And it's surprisingly difficult to capture the sense of ordinariness in literature. Ordinary people in ordinary meaningless lives. That's what those two people are. Bland, boring, anonymous, but with their own little dreams and secrets and fantasies. It was a snapshot of a dull and unremarkable couple in their dull and unremarkable lives but who, like most people, live for the promise of that little something special that will make an otherwise meaningless life a bit magical. It's even a bit tragic because the girl dangled the prospect of love to a man and then clumsily backed away, with the consequence that the man will withdraw even more into a shell of his own and become less trusting of other people.

It's not amazing literature but the writer is no dullard or talentless hack.

[Anonymous]

Well...lots of haters here apparently. But I found it evocative! I think the imagery was great and the narrator's thoughts highly relateable / realistic. I couldn't stop reading

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I read a lot of literature.

I don't find this horribly written. It was, methinks, quite well written. Because it's so very ordinary. And it's surprisingly difficult to capture the sense of ordinariness in literature. Ordinary people in ordinary meaningless lives. That's what those two people are. Bland, boring, anonymous, but with their own little dreams and secrets and fantasies. It was a snapshot of a dull and unremarkable couple in their dull and unremarkable lives but who, like most people, live for the promise of that little something special that will make an otherwise meaningless life a bit magical. It's even a bit tragic because the girl dangled the prospect of love to a man and then clumsily backed away, with the consequence that the man will withdraw even more into a shell of his own and become less trusting of other people.

It's not amazing literature but the writer is no dullard or talentless hack.

I agree with this. I think it was intentionally written in a direct, choppy and slightly manic manner to pull the reader into Margot's thoughts, like she was writing in a journal, or thinking aloud, or conveying the story to a friend. I think it perfectly captured this sort of snapshot in time. I really related too - I've had similar experiences (and yes, I was immature at the time).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Woman here.

I know this is written so that we'll feel sympathetic to the narrator but honestly the person I feel bad for is Robert. THIS is why you don't have sex on the first date: so you don't have to force yourself to fuck a guy you find repulsive just because it's too awkward to say no and get out of there.

I am not sure the intention is for us to feel sorry for Margot. She said not particularly sympathetic. I was yelling at her in my head the whole time. But I was also Margot at 20, getting myself into situations I had no business being in and carelessly affecting people without a bit of understanding or care for the rubble left in my wake.

Me too! I know I'll sound like someone's grandma, but there are very valid reasons to wait on having sex with someone. In the end this was cruel - I felt awful for Robert. Capricious is the word that comes to my mind for her. Not cool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unattractive girl starts flirting with unattractive older man. She later finds out fantasy is better than reality and dude is likely too old for her. Sex is awkward, which she expected it to be, and she dumps him. Man, who had been somewhat distant till she starts pursuing him, likely feels betrayed.

Am I missing anything?

Yes, you are missing the fact that he fails to bow out gracefully and when girl does not return his texts he escalates it to the point that he has to stalk her and call her a whore.

How did you miss that.

Pp didn't miss it. Note the part where she says he "likely feels betrayed".

[Anonymous]

I thnk it summed up perfectly how 20 year olds "date"--and sleep with men they don't like because they don't know how to stand up and just say no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unattractive girl starts flirting with unattractive older man. She later finds out fantasy is better than reality and dude is likely too old for her. Sex is awkward, which she expected it to be, and she dumps him. Man, who had been somewhat distant till she starts pursuing him, likely feels betrayed.

Am I missing anything?

Yes, you are missing the ending!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Woman here.

I know this is written so that we'll feel sympathetic to the narrator but honestly the person I feel bad for is Robert. THIS is why you don't have sex on the first date: so you don't have to force yourself to fuck a guy you find repulsive just because it's too awkward to say no and get out of there.

I am not sure the intention is for us to feel sorry for Margot. She said not particularly sympathetic. I was yelling at her in my head the whole time. But I was also Margot at 20, getting myself into situations I had no business being in and carelessly affecting people without a bit of understanding or care for the rubble left in my wake.

Yeah, exactly. I don't think this is a story in which anyone comes out looking great. It's about the complications of human interactions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Woman here.

I know this is written so that we'll feel sympathetic to the narrator but honestly the person I feel bad for is Robert. THIS is why you don't have sex on the first date: so you don't have to force yourself to fuck a guy you find repulsive just because it's too awkward to say no and get out of there.

They had been talking for how many months before they slept together?

They hadn't been hanging out in person though. It's his physical self that repulses her - fat hairy belly in particular.

She was interested in her fantasy of him. She didn't even know what he actually looked like. He, likewise, was having a fantasy relationship with her - doesn't know thing one about her, not even her age.

[Anonymous]

I’m really surprised by the # of women who relate to this and think Robert was too aggressive.

He seemed like he was barely into her and she had to initiate/push everything along (including the sex! Which she didn’t even want but blamed him for) until after the sex when it flipped.

Robert shouldn’t have called her a whore. Granted. That seemed to come out if left field though. Until that point he was pretty considerate.

But I do think she lead him on. Don’t fuck guys you’re not into, duh. And if you’re stupid or naive enough to do that, don’t have the nerve to turn around and blame them for YOUR poor decisions. Bad sex is just bad sex. It’s not rape or assault, nothing to blame the guy on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unattractive girl starts flirting with unattractive older man. She later finds out fantasy is better than reality and dude is likely too old for her. Sex is awkward, which she expected it to be, and she dumps him. Man, who had been somewhat distant till she starts pursuing him, likely feels betrayed.

Am I missing anything?

Yes, you are missing the fact that he fails to bow out gracefully and when girl does not return his texts he escalates it to the point that he has to stalk her and call her a whore.

How did you miss that.

Pp didn't miss it. Note the part where she says he "likely feels betrayed".

Yeah, Margot deserved the ending. So he sent her half a dozen angry texts and called her an ugly, if applicable, name. If that is the worst a man ever does to anyone so stupid as to behave the way she did, she will be very lucky.

Yes, it is on men to be gentlemen but she took some really dumb risks. Women can't afford to rely on men for their safety and fair treatment -- it is obvious that is not working for us!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unattractive girl starts flirting with unattractive older man. She later finds out fantasy is better than reality and dude is likely too old for her. Sex is awkward, which she expected it to be, and she dumps him. Man, who had been somewhat distant till she starts pursuing him, likely feels betrayed.

Am I missing anything?

Yes, you are missing the fact that he fails to bow out gracefully and when girl does not return his texts he escalates it to the point that he has to stalk her and call her a whore.

How did you miss that.

Pp didn't miss it. Note the part where she says he "likely feels betrayed".

Yeah, Margot deserved the ending. So he sent her half a dozen angry texts and called her an ugly, if applicable, name. If that is the worst a man ever does to anyone so stupid as to behave the way she did, she will be very lucky.

Yes, it is on men to be gentlemen but she took some really dumb risks. Women can't afford to rely on men for their safety and fair treatment -- it is obvious that is not working for us!

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m really surprised by the # of women who relate to this and think Robert was too aggressive.

He seemed like he was barely into her and she had to initiate/push everything along (including the sex! Which she didn’t even want but blamed him for) until after the sex when it flipped.

Robert shouldn’t have called her a whore. Granted. That seemed to come out if left field though. Until that point he was pretty considerate.

But I do think she lead him on. Don’t fuck guys you’re not into, duh. And if you’re stupid or naive enough to do that, don’t have the nerve to turn around and blame them for YOUR poor decisions. Bad sex is just bad sex. It’s not rape or assault, nothing to blame the guy on.

I see what you're saying, but I think what that analysis is missing is the fact that although he wasn't being pushy with his words, he WAS being manipulative with his actions. He would be condescending and openly cold, silent and dismissive to the point of almost being hostile when he was in "disapproval" of something seems said. When she reacted in the way that he wanted her to, he would reward her by immediately become reengaged and turning back up the attention and interest and effort. Of course part of this is on her and we all wish she had the confidence to not need his approval somehow, but such is life for many college sophomores. Sure you can say she lead him on and called all the shots in terms of accelerating the relationship forward, but I think it should be acknowledged that he was subtly pulling a lot of the strings and manipulating her in little ways, and he knew exactly what he was doing.