I am not a behavior specialist, but here is an account of my own personal
experience.
Many  cats are OK with being held, some even demand it.
I have 3 cats.  One is a male DSH that will not only jump up on the lap of
anyone who is in my home, he will even move around and adjust his position
on your lap rather than leave it.  The second is a DLH that will meow until
I pick her up and is very content to be carried around by me for extended
periods of time.  The last is another DSH, the DLH's daughter and HATES
being held.  She will run away if she sees two hands coming towards her.  I
do manage to pick her up, or even place her on my lap she will meow like you
are torturing her, shed and squirm until she gets down.  Since she is from
my other cat's litter, I've had her since birth.  She has never been abused,
mishandled or severely frightened by a human being.  She is actually very
loving, as long as it is on her terms; she will rub up against me and lick
my hand and curl up next to me in bed.
She is 14 now, and I've been slowly trying to get her to change her mind
since she first expressed this trait (food, coaxing, sneaky manipulation,
you name it).
This is just an aspect of her I have to accept.
I think you should just accept the time you get with your cat and when she
growls, just let her go until another time.

Dr. Carla

I did. That's why I shook you. To wake your dead-azz up.

Nuts. Who said that? I've had my boy Chester now for years. I'd do just
about anything to make his life better. Right down to and including NOT
HOLDING him if he didn't want me to!

My f.cking cat is twice the 'human' that most liberals, queers and
other criminals are. He deserves to draw breath many times over than
these sicko bastards do.

How do you vote, by the way....?

Agreed

Yes...

Only if you're too shallow to understand the correlation between the
overturned plate of people-food on the kitchen floor, and why he's
hiding when you first enter the room ready to sit down and eat it.

Arrogant jerk! No two people are alike! Some like to cuddle... others
like to keep their distance. Just you try to change one like you're
trying to do with your kat, and you'll find out a thing or two or
three. Why do you assume that kats are not just the same? They each do
possess a totally unique personality... Each bringing to you the
reflection of their past life's-experience. Why can't you dig that?

Brain damage, then....? What happened...?

That was a racist comment.
Let me ask you... Is a white redneck worse than a black nigger? Blacks
that are niggers do actually behave very similarly to whites who have
sunken down to being redneck bastards. Have you ever noticed that?
Maybe we should just classify all hateful, violent people as niggers.
White or black, it shouldn't matter. Since we really can't call the bad
black a redneck, now can we...?! ;)

Leave the cat alone. Give it some friggin' space. before he bites the
ever-living sh.t out of you..

IBen