What a great thoughtful discourse. I wasn't clear whether you had published it here before or it was in your notebooks and never published. I've never read this and I love it. I read 'Cat Woman' when it first came out in the New Yorker and followed its trajectory into digital fame. But I knew nothing about what followed so this was fascinating. Both that it happened and the obvious questions about why N would want to bring so much attention to herself if she was already 'upset' that she had been 'outed', so to speak. And the sad state of so much of women's writing -- to expect anything and everything that will shine a negative light on one's writing.
Summer, I'm so glad you are publishing more often. It's good to have you back even if much of it is you revisiting past work. For many of us, it is new. I'm sure for all of us it is provocative and after reading an article this morning on AI and the lack of critical thinking, I'm graterful to you for pushing critical thinking.
Thank you Sara! I did publish a version of this as a kind of hot take back in 2021, when I had far fewer subscribers, so many of my current readers wouldn't have seen it, that's certainly true. In editing it, as I have been doing for all the work I'm resharing, I ended up adding some things that weren't in the original post, which I hadn't thought to connect at the time. So it's a bit of a hybrid :) But thanks for reading, and yes—critical thinking. Boy do we need it!
I'm so glad these kinds of essays are still showing up on Substack! Thank you for your thoughtfulness, your research, and your careful ability to consider nuance.
Summer, i remember reading this when you first published it on Substack. Thank you for sharing it again. Your essay is possibly (probably, in all likelihood) the best meditation written on Cat Person and the ensuing dustup that followed.
I remember reading Cat Person, but only after Nowicki had written her essay (which I had read first because I tend to do things backwards). The story Cat Person struck me for all the reasons you mention. In the late 70s/early 80s, when I was a young adult and testing my sexuality, I had a number of uncomfortable sexual encounters. What struck me about the protagonist was how, like me, once she realized her fantasy was an illusion, she tried to ignore it, just make it go away, "let's pretend it never happened." And I also have had the experience where the guy was not happy about that. When it comes to sex, women are still shouldering all the responsibility for what happens and what doesn't happen. And we have a real problem when women can't agree among themselves on when "no means no."
Plagiarism and appropriation, particularly when it comes to writing FICTION, are issues that still seem to be very misunderstood. So much of my fiction is loosely based on my real experiences, my family, people I've worked with, strangers I've met, friends I still care for. My first drafts often border on nonfiction, but I keep working until the real story emerges and details change. In the end, it's fiction. It's my imagination, my imagining of lives and experience I don't or didn't have direct access to, like the early of my parents' marriage.
I appreciated Roupenian's response to Nowicki's essay, and that was enough to make me feel particularly alert to what biographical details I might keep in my own stories. And if Roupenian had anticipated that Cat Person would go viral, she'd been accused of hubris. Not that any male writer would be ...
"So much of my fiction is loosely based on my real experiences, my family, people I've worked with, strangers I've met, friends I still care for" — this is true for ALL fiction writers, or so has every fiction writer I've ever met or read about has said. Especially "the greats," the classic men of the canon. And very good points on the other things too. How convenient that this story about who shoulders the responsibility of sex and the illusions or realities of intimacy (mostly women) gets diverted into something else. Who writes a short story assuming that millions will read it? If that person exists, it's not usually a woman ;). For me, in a work of fiction that may not ever be published, but if it is, I might warn certain people that I know in advance "listen, parts of this certain character have taken inspiration from things you did, but they are not you, I don't see you like this, I'm just using some of your details as a costume." I don't think this is necessary for everyone, but sometimes, for people we don't want to offend, it's not the worst idea. I think nobody likes being fictionalized. I dated a writer and then always got very annoyed reading their stuff with tall redheaded women named "Autumn" in it, but we were very young ;)
Your last comment made me laugh out loud. I wrote a few stories featuring a male character who so closely resembles an ex -boyfriend that I've never tried to publish them. Those stories are more like exorcisms than art 😉😆
This was my first read about this original work. Your analysis of the generational changes in attitudes to sexual encounters from a female perspective, and in attitudes to women writers is eye opening. Thank you for revisiting.
Summer, this was a great piece. I have always loved your analysis (especially during consultations!). I have a lot of thoughts on the sexual aspect of this, which I won't share here. But, I did once have a situation with a semi famous comedian where he talked about our encounter on a radio show and it was an out of body experience, but nothing I felt a need to do anything about but laugh at how, the stories told have a whole different aspect when you know they are true. Of course, this was before social media, so no one was trying to figure out who was the unnamed woman.
I have to confess that I've just read "Cat Woman" for the first time (thanks for linking it). I might have started it when it came out and abandoned it. (I think it gets better as it goes--initially, it was a hard sell for me.) I often avoid books, movies, etc. that have a big ruckus around them, and just read/watch them later. Both of my adult sons talked to me about this story at the time, so I had some idea what it was about. I watched the back and forth on twitter but didn't read the story (I might have read Nowicki's essay--sometimes you hear so much about a piece of writing and what's going on around it, it feels like you've read it). All of this to say: your analysis hits all the right notes with me (having now read the story); and I can't say often enough how important Joanna Russ's How to Suppress Women's Writing (1983) remains. I have a tattered copy that I've moved with me several times. Your essay belongs in some kind of anthology about women's writing! I'm sharing it with both my sons.
Oh my gosh, Jane, thank you so much. And I often miss all the ruckuses nowadays, but this was from a time when I was more plugged in. That Joanna Russ stuff is sadly still so relevant.
What a great thoughtful discourse. I wasn't clear whether you had published it here before or it was in your notebooks and never published. I've never read this and I love it. I read 'Cat Woman' when it first came out in the New Yorker and followed its trajectory into digital fame. But I knew nothing about what followed so this was fascinating. Both that it happened and the obvious questions about why N would want to bring so much attention to herself if she was already 'upset' that she had been 'outed', so to speak. And the sad state of so much of women's writing -- to expect anything and everything that will shine a negative light on one's writing.
Summer, I'm so glad you are publishing more often. It's good to have you back even if much of it is you revisiting past work. For many of us, it is new. I'm sure for all of us it is provocative and after reading an article this morning on AI and the lack of critical thinking, I'm graterful to you for pushing critical thinking.
Thank you Sara! I did publish a version of this as a kind of hot take back in 2021, when I had far fewer subscribers, so many of my current readers wouldn't have seen it, that's certainly true. In editing it, as I have been doing for all the work I'm resharing, I ended up adding some things that weren't in the original post, which I hadn't thought to connect at the time. So it's a bit of a hybrid :) But thanks for reading, and yes—critical thinking. Boy do we need it!
I'm so glad these kinds of essays are still showing up on Substack! Thank you for your thoughtfulness, your research, and your careful ability to consider nuance.
Thanks for reading!
Summer, i remember reading this when you first published it on Substack. Thank you for sharing it again. Your essay is possibly (probably, in all likelihood) the best meditation written on Cat Person and the ensuing dustup that followed.
I remember reading Cat Person, but only after Nowicki had written her essay (which I had read first because I tend to do things backwards). The story Cat Person struck me for all the reasons you mention. In the late 70s/early 80s, when I was a young adult and testing my sexuality, I had a number of uncomfortable sexual encounters. What struck me about the protagonist was how, like me, once she realized her fantasy was an illusion, she tried to ignore it, just make it go away, "let's pretend it never happened." And I also have had the experience where the guy was not happy about that. When it comes to sex, women are still shouldering all the responsibility for what happens and what doesn't happen. And we have a real problem when women can't agree among themselves on when "no means no."
Plagiarism and appropriation, particularly when it comes to writing FICTION, are issues that still seem to be very misunderstood. So much of my fiction is loosely based on my real experiences, my family, people I've worked with, strangers I've met, friends I still care for. My first drafts often border on nonfiction, but I keep working until the real story emerges and details change. In the end, it's fiction. It's my imagination, my imagining of lives and experience I don't or didn't have direct access to, like the early of my parents' marriage.
I appreciated Roupenian's response to Nowicki's essay, and that was enough to make me feel particularly alert to what biographical details I might keep in my own stories. And if Roupenian had anticipated that Cat Person would go viral, she'd been accused of hubris. Not that any male writer would be ...
"So much of my fiction is loosely based on my real experiences, my family, people I've worked with, strangers I've met, friends I still care for" — this is true for ALL fiction writers, or so has every fiction writer I've ever met or read about has said. Especially "the greats," the classic men of the canon. And very good points on the other things too. How convenient that this story about who shoulders the responsibility of sex and the illusions or realities of intimacy (mostly women) gets diverted into something else. Who writes a short story assuming that millions will read it? If that person exists, it's not usually a woman ;). For me, in a work of fiction that may not ever be published, but if it is, I might warn certain people that I know in advance "listen, parts of this certain character have taken inspiration from things you did, but they are not you, I don't see you like this, I'm just using some of your details as a costume." I don't think this is necessary for everyone, but sometimes, for people we don't want to offend, it's not the worst idea. I think nobody likes being fictionalized. I dated a writer and then always got very annoyed reading their stuff with tall redheaded women named "Autumn" in it, but we were very young ;)
Your last comment made me laugh out loud. I wrote a few stories featuring a male character who so closely resembles an ex -boyfriend that I've never tried to publish them. Those stories are more like exorcisms than art 😉😆
This was my first read about this original work. Your analysis of the generational changes in attitudes to sexual encounters from a female perspective, and in attitudes to women writers is eye opening. Thank you for revisiting.
Thank you!
Summer, this was a great piece. I have always loved your analysis (especially during consultations!). I have a lot of thoughts on the sexual aspect of this, which I won't share here. But, I did once have a situation with a semi famous comedian where he talked about our encounter on a radio show and it was an out of body experience, but nothing I felt a need to do anything about but laugh at how, the stories told have a whole different aspect when you know they are true. Of course, this was before social media, so no one was trying to figure out who was the unnamed woman.
💜 thank you Liz
I love this piece and look forward to sharing it with my students.
Thanks Anca!
Wow! This kind of discussion/discourse was why I started reading Substack. Thank you for the ideas, facts and methods.
Thank you Teresa!
I have to confess that I've just read "Cat Woman" for the first time (thanks for linking it). I might have started it when it came out and abandoned it. (I think it gets better as it goes--initially, it was a hard sell for me.) I often avoid books, movies, etc. that have a big ruckus around them, and just read/watch them later. Both of my adult sons talked to me about this story at the time, so I had some idea what it was about. I watched the back and forth on twitter but didn't read the story (I might have read Nowicki's essay--sometimes you hear so much about a piece of writing and what's going on around it, it feels like you've read it). All of this to say: your analysis hits all the right notes with me (having now read the story); and I can't say often enough how important Joanna Russ's How to Suppress Women's Writing (1983) remains. I have a tattered copy that I've moved with me several times. Your essay belongs in some kind of anthology about women's writing! I'm sharing it with both my sons.
Oh my gosh, Jane, thank you so much. And I often miss all the ruckuses nowadays, but this was from a time when I was more plugged in. That Joanna Russ stuff is sadly still so relevant.
Loved this!