I Read Chick Lit And I'm Not Afraid To Say It

You know, the chick lit like Nancy Drew, Pride and Prejudice, Little Women, Silas Marner, Anna Kerenina...all the light, frothy, mindless stuff that's so easily dismissed without reading.

What's not to love?  I recently read some statistics in the Wall Street Journal about the percentage of U.S. adults who read books.  You probably already know where I am going with this.  The majority of readers are women ages 18-40 reading fiction.  So let all the closet chick lit-ers come out.  There are sure to be plenty of us.  www.floridagirlmidwest.blogspot.com ( http://www.floridagirlmidwest.blogspot.com/ )

And there are too many books in the world to read things you don't want to read.

Yay for chick lit love!

Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca/ ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca/ ).

But then no one can agree on one definition of chick lit, which is part of the issue. What is chick lit? What is not chick lit?

It is interesting that by that definition Bridget Jones Diary is not even really chick lit when it's a novel that many consider to be a cornerstone of the genre. Bridget not career ambitious (not seriously), nor is she obsessed with shopping. The appearance thing could go either way with Bridget but she's neither hip not stylish. Actually, those are all the reasons why we like everyone likes her isn't it?

I'd consider books like The Jane Austen Book Club, The Wednesday Sisters and The Friday Night Knitting Club to be chick lit but they don't meet the wikipedia definition.

So again we're left with, what is chick lit? What isn't chick lit?

Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca/ ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca/ ).

That's my philosophy for books and movies- if they're depressing or painful to take in, why should I waste my time? You spend enough of your life dealing with serious things- movies and books should be enjoyable. My name is Alana, and I love chick lit.

From Wikipedia:

"Chick lit often features hip, stylish, career-driven ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chick_lit#cite_note-F... )
female protagonists, usually in their twenties and thirties. The women
featured in these novels may be obsessed with appearance or have a
passion for shopping."

So it all depends on what books you are including. For me, chick lit, like chick flicks, have always had connotations with which I do not identify myself. But yes, I'm sure according to at least one definition of the term - there are titles I've read and loved that are Chick Lit. I love books with strong or funny main characters (male and female).

About how all women's literature is lumped together and how men just write literature but women write "women's literature." The experience of men is supposedly universal but those of women are not.

Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca/ ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca/ ).

It's really not. Yep, there is a subsection of it that does have the shopping/brand name/purse thing going on and that's not everyone's cup of tea but that's not all chick lit is. Chick lit is a very wide umbrella and can accommodate a lot of different varieties. You'll always encounter some novels that you don't like in every genre, but I find people are more willing to dismiss chick lit after a book or two.

Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca/ ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca/ ).

but from personal experience - any book cover that is pink and has cartoon purses on the cover does not make me want to pick it up.  Nor any book with "shopaholic" in the title - gah.

I've tried books like this a few times and always am disappointed. Case in point, The Devil wears Prada.  I tried it as an audio book and while I felt there were funny points, the plot went nowhere.  The dramatic ending was her telling her boss to "F off?" Really??? It left me unsatisfied.  I will leave this and the 27 Dresses type stuff to you more girly-girls - I don't get it.

Part of the problem is that publishers tend to lump all women's fiction under the patronizing term "chick-lit" without regard to the content of the books themselves, making it so difficult to distinguish among them. Marian Keyes and Helen Fielding have little in common save for their strong female protagonists and the romantic and life-changing scenarios they must plow through, but critics and publishers alike (and literary snobs who wouldn't dream of calling Jane Austin chick-lit) consider them to be birds of a feather.

The term (much like "women's fiction" or even "women's rights") segregates the literary form into something exclusive to women, as if men couldn't possibly find anything interesting or insightful within their pages. Never mind that much of so-called "great literature" (without the qualifying term "men's fiction") has revolved around the adventures of men operating within an almost all-male environment, with nary a woman in sight save for the occasional appearance as a helpmate or lover. Few would consider Ernest Hemingway's novels to be "men's fiction," and instead would categorize him as simply "fiction," perhaps even "literary fiction," so why distinguish novels written by and about women to be "women's fiction?" Women are human as well, and experience the gamut of human emotions, most of which aren't exclusive to them. Their experiences can inform the mind and heart of a man as much as they can those of a woman.

I love so-called "chick-lit," but I do long for the day when we can simply refer to them as literature or fiction, without the qualifying adjective before it.

Salut,

Marjorie

I've started a chick-lit recommendations ( http://www.blogher.com/chick-lit-recommendations ) thread in the BlogHer book club ( http://www.blogher.com/groups/blogher-book-club ). I'd love it you stopped by to share some of your favourites.

Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca/ ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca/ ).

I'm curious, what kind of non-fiction do you read?

Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca/ ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca/ ).

Yes, there is a huge issue there about women authors. Huge. Ditto the African-American literature issues. And then there's the issue of what that says about our society as a whole and well, sigh.

Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca/ ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca/ ).

Sometimes it is a blessing but other times...like those times when you finally get that book you've been aching to read from the library but you just are not in the right mood for it? Man, that sucks. ;-)

The times that formulaic reads bother me the most is when the first book by the author blows your pants off and then they use the exact same formula for the second, and the third and well, it just becomes an "author x" book.

I think we all have an inner chickadee. :)

Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca/ ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca/ ).

I had no idea she had written any. I must add them to my library request list!

Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca/ ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca/ ).

And i'm not afraid to say it. A majority of what I read is either nonfiction or chick lit.

Just wanted you to know I read this, SM, and enjoyed it. Started to write a lot about devaluation of women overall, that writers are told to write what they know and yet if women write their lives as they know them that womanly life is devalued the same way women's work is devalued, and then I thought about how for years anything written by an African-American was only compared to work by other African-Americans hence for decades, Toni Morrison was called "the world's best African-American novelist" instead of "one of the best novelist," and of course there's the whole black books section debate ( http://www.examiner.com/x-10713-AfricanAmerican-Bo... ) plus the Urban Lit versus African-American Literature battle, but well ... Thank you for the post.

Nordette Adams ( http://www.bookotopia.com ) is a BlogHer CE ( http://www.blogher.com/haystackprofile/viewprofile... ) & you can read her at the African-American Books Examiner ( http://bookotopia.com ) or find her other stuff through Her 411 ( http://her411.com ).

I read a wide range of literature including some trash and chick-lit.  I like stories that draw me in and I read a lot of "deep" books.  Sometimes I need an escape from that.  I don't like books that are overly formulaic and so two recently women-centered novels, while enjoyable, were fairly predictable and made feel that I probably wouldn't read anything by those authors in a while.

It's a pleasure to read including chick lit because while I'm a woman there's a part of me that is a chickadee.

http://blog.candelarisilva.com ( http://blog.candelarisilva.com/ )

Good and plenty!

hehehe yeah she also hid them - or something- it must be time to re-read! I remember thinking she had NO idea how dangerous it was to do it tho! He had not quit yet!

I call them brain candy sometimes too. Everyone deserves a little sweetness right?

I had forgotten about the toothpaste. I was a Ramono too- as was my younger daughter (still is)- remember the box of kleenex she gave the little boy when she was sooooo much older? I do love love love Beverly Cleary. Her autobiographies are phenomenal. I keep hoping she will put out one more!

Z :)

I don't remember the smoking thing at all but I do remember her father losing her job because of that thing with the toothpaste.

Ha! Lord Lit and Lady Lit. I read those too! And sometimes unknown author lit is the best kind you can find.

I've heard the dessert idea before. I sometimes all them candy, because they are treat. (I'm more of a candy person than a dessert person.)

Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca/ ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca/ ).

This is where I get tripped up about labels like "chick-lit". On one hand, yes "chick-lit" isn't necessarily a positive label. But then when people start rebelling and saying, like some authors did a few years ago, "I don't write chick-lit" it reaffirms the negativity of it, and the notion that some authors do write "lesser" novels.

Chick-lit never would have been my first choice if I were to name the genre. But since it's here I'm kind of all about embracing it.

Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca/ ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca/ ).

"I am very tired of the pressure to act like a lady when it comes to polite behavior in public , but stop acting like a girl when it comes to expressing my feelings and don't admit that a movie or book designed to appeal to women is something you enjoy because it may damage your credibility as an intelligent, educated member of society."

That's it right there isn't it?

Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca/ ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca/ ).

It's really very fluid, much like the line between YA and Adult literature. One person's chick lit is another person's literature and vice versa. Where exactly is that hard line?

Congratulations on selling your novel!

Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca/ ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca/ ).

But I don't think they would universally label all of them as "literature". Authors like James Patterson, John Grisham, and Stephen King are often shunned by people who consider their works "beneath" them.

For awhile in England they tried to call it "dick lit" instead of "man lit". For some reason it didn't go over so well. ;-)

Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca/ ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca/ ).

Yep, I understand you there.

I think that there are times when some things are just easier to read then others. Sometimes I think YA is an easy go to because there's just a range of great YA, from the lighter fare to the very much not light novels. Sometimes I feel like it's more difficult to find the same range in "adult" literature with the same lack of effort on my part.

I spent the weekend reading some good YA chick lit. ;-)

Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca/ ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca/ ).

Heh, I am always confused by the labels.

I read what sounds interesting. Sometimes it is the blurb on the cover that gets me, or a sample of what is inside. It depends on what I am in the mood for or think I will want later. I admit a majority of my reading is romances. Preferably historical. I think of them rather like a bit of dessert for my brain. I read plenty of 'heavier' stuff, but I want something I know I will always enjoy, that I can pick up and put down if need be as I am always on the go. I like stories that incorporate families and generations best but they are harder to find. Series work well. I get to know the characters and the setting and get a kick out of it when authors include other authors characters  in passing. It seems so friendly and I will buy more of those books.

I read 1-2 books a day most days, a minimum of 5 a week. That is just historical romances. I also read a variety of magazines, biographies, gardening cooking sewing parenting and pet books as well. I have a lot of my childhood faves and reread them on a regular basis. Who can not get more from the little house books? Oh and the different perspective of Ramona, I had forgotten about her father quitting smoking but it all came back when I quit when my girls were young. And when her father was out of work- I thought about that when I was looking for work.

So I suppose I read chick lit. I also read dude lit and Sir lit and Lord lit and Lady lit and unknown author lit.

I think the really important thing is-

I read.

:)

Z

I like a wide varity of literature.  I love YA lit, it's one of my favorites, and I do adore most things labeled "chick lit."  The problem with the name isn't that its underlying meaning is negative, it's that the connotation is so negative.  It's like walking around reading a Harry Potter book, people think you are reading a "kid's book" when actually you are reading a great pieice of literature.

I'm not sure why we have to give our books labels that have such a negative connotation.  Like most people, I enjoy books that have a protagonist I can relate to, since I'm a "chick" it just makes sense that I'd like chick lit.

Doris

The Leaky Cauldron ( http://www.leakynews.com )
Everything Harry Potter.

Fit, Fabulous and Forty the Natural Way! ( http://fitfabulousforty.blogspot.com/ )

Pundit Mom and MDilloway are right! The labels applied to women and things that appeal or relate to women are so commonly accepted as valid that both men and women feel the stigma thats automatically attached.  As if enjoying something that makes you laugh and feel like there are others out there with similar experiences and feelings should cause you to feel guilty. We are a weird bunch, we humans.

I love Jane Austen! She is my go to author when I am stressed and don't feel like wrestling with the complexities of the economic downturn, the tragedy of war,  homelessness, the lost souls in Darfur, famine in Africa, global warming, etc. Literature is supposed to transport you somewhere of the author's choosing to share the experience of the characters. The question of artistic merit can only be answered by the individual reader. Value judging the merit of the reader who enjoys a particular genre, unless it is child porn or some other equally criminal topic is more than a little elitest if you ask me. Especially if the reason you deem it less valuable is the fact that it appeals to a particular group, be they kids, women, or green eyed muslims living in Arkansas.

I am very tired of the pressure to act like a lady when it comes to polite behavior in public , but stop acting like a girl when it comes to expressing my feelings and don't admit that a movie or book designed to appeal to women is something you enjoy because it may damage your credibility as an intelligent, educated member of society.

As a kid, when I excelled in sports and climbed trees, I was a tom-boy. When I threw a ball from center field to home plate I did not "throw like a girl." And as much "classic" literature as I have enjoyed over the years, I am proud to report that some of the books that have given me the greatest pleasure were written by women, for women.

 TJ Smith

www.working-with-women.com ( http://www.working-with-women.com/ )

www.margaretdilloway.wordpress.com ( http://www.margaretdilloway.wordpress.com )

PunditMom, you are so right. It's like how they call single women who date younger men "cougars," when they call men who date younger women, "men."

A few years ago at a writer's conference, I presented the first page of my book to a literary agent. It was funny, written in first person, and was about a young woman getting over the deaths of her parents, a co-dependent relationship, and depression.  She laughed out loud at the first line and told me I had written a great chick-lit novel.

I blanched visibly. The only chick-lit I knew of at the time was the Shopaholic series.

 "There's nothing wrong with chick-lit," she said. "Some chick-lit is fantastic." She suggested reading Anna Maxted and a couple of others.

I think the best chick-lit deals with heavy issues in a humorous and poignant way.

That agent did rep my book, but it never got picked up; one editor told me I was straddling the literary/chick-lit lines and they couldn't cross that line.  My new novel (new agent) did, though, so no worries. It is not chick-lit, at least, not as far as I know.  Hmm. I find all these categories confusing, come to think of it.  

ARGH! If these were books written by men, they would just be called novels or maybe even given the vaulted title of "literature."

I enjoy these books, too, but would anyone have called Great Expectations "dude lit?"

PunditMom ( http://punditmom1.blogspot.com )
aka Joanne Bamberger ( http://www.mediabistro.com/joannebamberger )
BlogHer News & Politics Contributing Editor ( http://www.blogher.com/blog/punditmom )

I don't think it's so much that we're trapped by chick lit (or trapped by YA, which is my "issue") so much as we can feel trapped by LIFE so we turn to the easy, the fun, the thing we just plain enjoy - without any work or stress or pressure.

It's not the genre that is the trap, it's all of the trappings of life.

Good post! Excuse me while I go read another chapter of this piece of chick lit. I'm enjoying it quite a bit, thanks. :-)

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager

Flamingo House Happenings ( http://www.flamingohouse.net/ )