Talk:Warm Sweater/@comment-24696015-20170309083420/@comment-12186793-20170611061036

First off, thank you for reading my story and taking the time to give me some honest feedback. I truly appreciate it. I would, however, like to respond to some of your points.

The first point I'd like to make is that the story is not sexist. I am not sexist, and I would never want my stories to come off that way. The woman in the story does act helpless as you've stated, but it has nothing to do with her gender. Most people might run, or fight in a situation like hers, but she was far too scared and in a state of shock. There are people in this world, both male and female, who might react similarly. She is one of them, and she just happens to be female. If I'd made her male instead, the outcome would have been the same. I do understand that the "helpless woman" character is an overused, and in a lot of cases a sexist trope, but I want you to know that this was neither my intention nor mindset when writing the story.

I won't make excuses for the illogical portions of the story, but I do have explanations that can fit if you choose to believe them. For instance, the man overcoming her even though he's injured - you could argue that his adrenaline gave him the strength to do so. I also never described him in detail, so he could be larger and stronger than the average office worker. As for the rose used as a weapon, while highly improbable, it is poetic and I'd hoped that and the suspension of disbelief up to that point would make up for the actual sematics of killing someone with a flower. These may seem like a stretch, but they're worth mentioning.

I'm not saying the story's perfect or worthy of your praise - after all I did write it many years ago. I do, however, like it for what it is. Not everone might see it the way I intended it to be, but I wanted to capture unrequited love, madness, and a bit of movie monster all in one fell swoop. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it but I'm glad you took the time to read and critique it. Those are the fans that keep me going and help me to improve my craft. If you want to talk further on the matter, feel free to message me through my website or facebook page (I check those more often)