Link! (Also warning: It's NSFW at parts)

I've spent the past two semesters analyzing this story. Why is this story so popular?
Because it resonates with almost every woman who reads it.

Our main character, Margot, is a college student. I remember the first time I read this story I cried. It felt like I was somehow being seen, acknowledged. Her naivety was the same naivety I had once had, wanting so badly to impress men and be polite and do 'the right thing' at the expense of my own safety. We, as readers, are able to see the numerous red flags that begin popping up throughout the course of the relationship Margot has with Robert. It's a study in how people end up in terrible relationships, when we are infatuated we can overlook the red flags that are so obvious and glaring to onlookers.

Margot blames herself for Robert's moodiness. She thinks he's distant because she didn't try hard enough for him. Robert negs her throughout the story, and we begin to see Margot internalize that. She CLINGS to any semblance of power in their relationship because the dynamic is so horribly skewed in his favor, as he's an older man, with a manipulative streak. His behavior is repulsive. It's terrible. There's nothing attractive about this man, and yet, Margot continues to appease him. When she gets back to his house, she realizes she doesn't want to have sex with him, but does anyway to avoid hurting his fragile feelings. It's the kind of responsibility for male feelings we as women are forced to undertake. Unlearning that responsibility and putting yourself first was an epiphany that really hit hard after reading this story.

As women, we are expected to put men's feelings above our own SAFETY and above our own boundaries and comfort. I could talk until the cows come home about this story but I'm curious what all of my fellow FDSers think! There was an interesting backlash after this story came out, of men hating Margot as a character, probably because they themselves identified with Robert. It's so interesting.

(Also, side note, I really would love it if we all started an FDS book club because I think that there are so many stories that can teach us so much!!)