I liked Vylar Kaftan's story on Pseudopod ("Breaking the Vessel"). This one wasn't quite as much of a hit for me. Now, I've never had the experience of losing my virginity as a woman, so that might be the source of my unenthusiastic reaction, but I was really expecting... more of a plot, I guess. Some sort of revelation or complication. "I'm going to lose my virginity in two days. This preoccupies and intimidates me. Time passes. I lose my virginity. It's not as bad as I thought it would be." We come in after she's made her climactic choice, and nothing really happens to put that choice in doubt.
I did like the extended metaphor of genitalia/erogenous zones as faces; that was an interesting piece of imagery. However, I'm uncomfortable with the recapitulation of traditional sex and gender roles. Women are "mysterious" but men "flap their tongues everywhere." Throughout the story, her virginity is presented as something she has which will be taken away, that sex is something she does for Maddoc and not something they do together. I thought that perhaps the climax, so to speak, might break through that a bit, but no. She is just a passive conduit for the "unicorn," channeling the electricity of the lightning blast down into the mountain. She's even pinned to the ground for the procedure, her cries of "This is my choice" ringing hollow. I'm uncomfortable with sex presented in that light.
TMI WARNING TMI WARNING
Even when having sex with my wife, I lose it completely if I get even a hint that she's not enjoying it, that she'd rather be doing something else. I've schooled myself enough so that a random accidental pinch or hair-pull doesn't wilt me, but I am prone to muttering "I'm sorry," and "Are you sure you're okay?" at the slightest provocation, such as a breath that sounds too much like a sigh, or a moan which sounds too much like pain. This is doubly frustrating because my wife would prefer me to be more aggressive and dominant (even up to such mild implements as handcuffs, which do not do it for me at all), but I just do not have it in me to force myself on anyone.
Thus, I found it troubling that all the way through, sex was either fearsome or vaguely uninteresting. "It looks so fragile" has connotations of "Why was I afraid of that?" but not so much, "Woo! That was awesome! Let's do it again." Both reactions, fear and apathy, make me depressed, and there isn't any sign of sex-as-joyful-bonding to be seen. Even Maddoc gets into it, with that "Thank you," as though she's just done him a favor, as though she sacrificed something.
On another note, I've repeatedly encountered this idea of the unpredictable or "spooky" girl as being somehow desirable, particularly with males reacting "She's so hard to figure out. I must have her!" Here, the protagonist's whole schtick is telling Maddoc something other than what she's really thinking or feeling, and that "Come here! Now go away!" stuff would get tiresome quickly. I've never understood the appeal of that particular meme. How do you enjoy spending time with someone who deliberately constructs emotional walls and barricades? Why would you want a serious relationship with someone who purposely obfuscates their real feelings? Is this reaction of mine related to my apparently rampant habit of oversharing and excessive honesty?