it seems like 80% (maybe higher) of 15-35 year old women think the takeaway is obvious, but among other groups including older women, the response is less clear

i think part of it is the way the story was written, with grace's internal thoughts framing everything. younger women in particular will relate to those feelings and thoughts in a way that others don't, which leads to the others focusing more on the explicit actions described (hanging around with no clothes on, oral sex, the claw, etc.) rather than any nonverbal cues.

and that results in a reaction of yeah, aziz sounds a little creepy/desperate/awkward, but he wasn't violent or threatening, so she shoulda just bounced. while people who empathize more with grace feel like it's not that easy to just leave or say no - why couldn't he just stop pressuring her when it's so obvious she wasn't interested?