Over the weekend, Twitter was a-twit with a New Yorker short story called 'Cat Person,' written by Kristen Roupenian. You might have noticed it because:

  • This might be the first time a short story has ever gone viral
  • Everyone was retweeting and discussing it
  • The story was really interesting and good
  • And the accompanying image showed two pairs of lips, pre-kiss, in extreme close-up.
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In 'Cat Person,' a young woman called Margot develops a crush on Robert, a guy who buys Red Vines from her at a movie theater. They flirt, and eventually have sex—a decidedly middling event described in unpleasant yet sometimes hilarious detail. Roupenian's realistic dialogue, her caustic account of modern dating and its horrors, and the protagonist's changing opinions about the man created a perfect storm of a story: It was at once funny, nuanced, a little disturbing, and relatable (at least for some).

Some readers found it so realistic, in fact, that they thought it was non-fiction at first:

It's now 2017's most-read piece of fiction online for The New Yorker, and also one of its most-read pieces of the year, full stop. Because it conveyed an experience many women had been through themselves, women were naturally reading, sharing, and discussing it. But not everyone was as appreciative about the story. Enter the Twitter account @mencatperson, which sprung up specifically to highlight men's frustrated, confused, and angry responses to "Cat Person." These comments ranged from criticisms of the female character:

and #notonlymen protestations.

We got in touch with the woman behind the @MenCatPerson account, a 27-year-old writer who asked to remain anonymous. "The story just blew up," she said of "Cat Person." "Every time I logged onto Twitter, it was being shared. I started to become fascinated with the replies. It wasn't clear-cut across gender lines; of course, some men loved it and some women hated it, but I was feeling frustrated with the number of men who seemed to completely miss the point of what the author was trying to do."

From her point of view, the story did something unique: "I think Roupenian did an excellent job at capturing the mental gymnastics a young woman might go through in order to acquiesce not only to men, but also to herself," she told ELLE.com. She took some screencaps to share with friends, but decided against posting them on her own Twitter account—hence the @MenCatPerson moniker: "Frequently when I tweet about sexism, I get threats or harassment."

What does she think is driving heated comments like the ones she's tweeting? 'There is a lot of ambiguity around Robert until the very end, and I think that's what's propelling a lot of the strong reactions: Is he manipulative, or just awkward?' As @mencatperson's own experience of Twitter harassment shows, though, there's a difference between how men and women navigate that kind of uncertainty: 'Men who might, understandably, relate to his awkwardness might think that Margot (and other women) are being unfair in their assessment of him, but every time a woman goes out with a man she barely knows, she has to weigh these risks. Sure, there's a good chance this guy is harmless, but what if he isn't?'

Ultimately, while many readers are getting kicks out of the comments she's posting, she's not out for blood: 'The reactions do highlight that, generally, straight men navigate sex and dating very differently than everyone else.'

But if nothing else, she'd like to push these men to think a little more critically about what the story is saying, and why so many women find it relatable: 'I want straight men to maybe stop and think about the ways they interact with the world, the ways in which other people are constantly taught to.'

From: ELLE US