nobunnies

I heard back from one of the literary magazines where I submitted a story. Fact A: it is about a narrator who is in love with an apathetic femininst. Fact B: the narrator really likes Cher. Fact C: the narrator dresses in a pink sparkly top for Cher's concert. Fact D: the narrator ends up sleeping with their male best friend.

Anyway, the editor said they really liked the story but it was way too odd and its oddness was just not acknowledged -- they were reading the narrator as a male. I'm really glad they mentioned something, because for future reference, I will make it lots clearer. But I'm also torn between wondering if it was heterosexist, or just sexist, of them to read it that way, or if, you know, I just didn't do my job as a writer. Maybe both? I mean, the narrator's gender ambiguity is completely my fault, and I'm going to fix it, but the editor said, "The narrator sounds like a girl a lot of the time..." Why did they never think it WAS a girl? Cos the narrator was in love with another girl? eh. They're literary editors, they're smart people, so I would never dismiss their feedback. Practically, like I said, I'm going to fix it, and that's a forward step with my writing, and progress is always good. So. Otherwise, I just think it's kinda interesting.