Res ipsa loquitur

But that's only what Icarus said, not Helen. Just because that's what Icarus thinks doesn't make it true. That's what I'm trying to explain to you--what people said in the comments has nothing to do with Helen's intent. They don't know Helen's intent any more than anyone else does. Helen couldn't and didn't disclaim for reader reaction because she didn't know what that reaction was going to be. You aren't going to find a definitive explanation of what the story was about in the comments to the story, or in the Cuttingboard discussion, or in any other discussion on the net unless it comes directly from Helen. Remember how you said that people kept hurling contrary explanations at you, and you were becoming confused? That's because all a reader has to go on is her own reaction to the story, her own ideas about what it might be about, and those are all going to differ. Your own interpretation of the story's purpose as a slam against Xanthe will be as valid to you as my interpretation of the story as a feminist allegory is to me, but neither of us may be right when it comes to what was actually in Helen's head. Neither of us can know that, and none of the commenters can know that--no one can, unless Helen tells us, herself. Until that happens, it's all interpretation. We'll discuss whose interpretation we feel is the most likely to be true, and why, share our impressions, but NO ONE knows Helen meant but Helen. So disregard what Icarus had to say about the story, because it's only her interpretation, and don't expect Helen to disclaim for things that other people think. There's no reason for her to.