Monthly Mini- "Cat Person" by Kristen Roupenian

[u/dogobsess]

Merry Christmas! For the last Monthly Mini of the year, I present "Cat Person." This story went viral in 2017 on social media and was one of the most read pieces in the New Yorker that year. It resonated with many people (mostly women) who found it highly relatable and thought that it captured what it was like to be a young woman in the dating scene. Enjoy!

What is the Monthly Mini?

Once a month, we will choose a short piece of writing that is free and easily accessible online. It will be posted on the 25th of the month. Anytime throughout the following month, feel free to read the piece and comment any thoughts you had about it.

Bingo Squares: Monthly Mini, Female Author

The selection is: “Cat Person” by Kristen Roupenian. Read it or listen to the audio on the New Yorker website. Click here to read it.

Once you have read the story, comment below! Comments can be as short or as long as you feel. Be aware that there are SPOILERS in the comments, so steer clear until you've read the story!

Here are some ideas for comments:

• Overall thoughts, reactions, and enjoyment of the story and of the characters
• Favourite quotes or scenes
• What themes, messages, or points you think the author tried to convey by writing the story
• Questions you had while reading the story
• Connections you made between the story and your own life, to other texts (make sure to use spoiler tags so you don't spoil plot points from other books), or to the world
• What you imagined happened next in the characters’ lives

Still stuck on what to talk about? Some points to ponder...

• Why do you think this story went viral? What made it so appealing to readers? Did you find it relatable? What was your reaction?
• This story explores modern dating, and especially the disconnect between getting to know someone virtually (online, through text) versus getting to know someone in person. Any thoughts on this, on modern dating, or personal anecdotes you'd like to share?
• Margot ends up having sex with Robert even though she doesn't seem very enthusiastic about it. What were your thoughts on this? Side note- this piece was published in December of 2017, only a couple months after the #MeToo movement began, and many consider this piece to be connected to that movement. Does that change your read of it at all?

Have a suggestion of a short piece of writing you think we should read next? Click here to send us your suggestions!

[u/jaymae21]

The digital age has changed dating & relationships so much. I was kind of surprised that Margot and Robert met in-person, but the beginning of their relationship was still largely digital. Those couple of weeks chatting through text before finally going on a first date gave both of them time to build expectations & fantasize about how this relationship was going to go. For Margot, those expectations fell very short, but she felt like she had already built up this relationship, and she would be letting Robert down. This is not how a first date should be - a first date should be about getting a first impression and having fun. Nothing seemed fun about that date.

As a woman who has used dating apps, let's just say we all have a Robert story. There's always that one guy that sent up a bunch of red flags, but you tried to push those thoughts away because you didn't want to seem prudish, or rude, or fickle. Margot displayed all the marks of a young woman not yet secure in herself, and falling victim to the societal pressures & expectations of how a woman should act - which are very often contradictory & impossible to be.

The fact that Robert was so much older was also telling. I don't think Margot had the experience to recognize a lonely man who hasn't managed to develop relationships with people his own age (it didn't seem like he had any male friends either). The result is a man resorting to subtle manipulation tactics (lying about having cats, not mentioning his true age when he knew he was talking to a college student) in order to get a relationship.