« It Is Impossible To Work | Main | This Is Too Easy »
August 22, 2005
Chick Lit Cat Fight: Meow, Hiss
 | Currently Listening Exile in Guyville By Liz Phair see related |
1. Yes, it is just a marketing term. Chick lit is a way tocategorize books so that they can be conveniently pitched, packaged,stocked and sold. Like all genres (including the genres Fiction& Literature and Classics, which are, after all, also just nameshanging above the aisles at Barnes & Noble), the genre chick lit isnot inherently meaningful. It is a tool of utility humans use tocope with variety by identifying patterns and grouping items of varyingsimilitude. Categories allow people to find books they want orbelieve, given past reading experience, there is a good chance theymight like. Genres also prepare readers to approach the book witha certain set of expectations. (The idea that there are twotribes of readers-- high-brow and low-brow-- with no intersection issilly. It is perfectly possible for the same woman who enjoys War &Peace to enjoy the latest Nora Roberts; there are certain satisfactionsone gets from one kind of book, and certain kinds of satisfactions onegets from the other, and we approach each book with a different set ofexpectations and demands.) As a category, chick lit can't beeither good or bad. It is a rough, utilitarian term, and it iswhat it is.
2. I'm not comfortable making assumptions about the authors or thereaders of these books. As far as authors go, it is impossible toknow where their imagined book ends and the PR department'scampaign begins. I would bet my big toes that there are a numberof women writers who are uncomfortable being classified as chick litbut who do not have the ability to challenge it. And if someone,realizing she is more likely to publish and hence make a living,decides to steer her writing into a genre of which there is a highdemand-- well, what's it to you? I can't stand the idea thatwriters operate free from economic demands and constraints; the onlypeople who have the ability to operate free from economic realities arepeople with money. And yes, there are some exceptional writerswho have produced great art by working for hours at night in the coldbasement alone after nine hours at a job-- but not too fuckingmany. Writers who admit to (god forbid) a material, laborlyelement to their work, are easy targets for those that still worshipthe model of Romantic artist, individualist, iconoclastic, anduncorruptable. In the 19th century, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote that"America is now wholly given over to a damned mob of scribbling women,and I should have no chance of success while the public taste isoccupied with their trash � and should be ashamed of myself if I didsucceed." Many 19th century female writers of the Romance wereworking women with mouths to feed, and Hawthorne's disdain for"scribbling women" suggests an assumption that women writers who writeto support themselves (that is, writing a lot) cannot be seriousartists and do not make rational, ethical and aesthetic decisions intheir work. Which sounds awfully familiar to me.
3. As far as chick lit promoting unchallenged acceptance of gendernorms, sexist beliefs, etc.-- um, I hate to be the bringer of bad news,but that is a problem not confined to Chick Lit. Seriousliterature is full of bullshit, too-- there are tons of currentmale-authored, serious, literary texts that rely on and promote sexistand otherwise obectionable assumptions-- and I have no reason tobelieve that being how harmful a book is has anything to do with howserious, how good, how well-written or whatever it is. It alsoseems condescending to me to assume that the readers of Chick Lit orother low-brow trash are not able to see the stereotypes or sexism,that they are unwitting sponges absorbing whatever they're given. I think women readers of Chick Lit deserve a little more credit thanthat. People go to books for all sorts of reasons-- escape,comfort, entertainment, companionship, stimulation. I'd like tobelieve that it is possible to watch a movie or read a book, deriveenjoyment from it, and not buy into every single assumption behind it.
--------
Posted by hissycat at August 22, 2005 12:53 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.hissycat.com/movabletype/mt-tb.cgi/23
Comments
Edmonton dominated the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night and the 4-0 margin in Game 6 makes it hard to imagine the Oilers not hoisting hockey's Holy Grail above their heads in less than 48 hours. And it would not come as any shock to see defenseman Chris Pronger, who had another 31-minute night, take the honors for the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP.
Posted by: alizaali at June 25, 2006 12:27 AM
potato coolers!automating.biconnected!inseminate Carmela
Posted by: Anonymous at June 26, 2006 04:52 PM
deserter phase Yoder abhorrent!Britishly Gerry,Holzman
Posted by: Anonymous at June 28, 2006 10:11 AM
Ethiopia convincers.legged:filthiness sine cuisine parrot skewing sanctification
Posted by: Anonymous at June 28, 2006 10:12 AM
partially swivel Rockaways nymph Majorca seam ...
Posted by: Anonymous at June 29, 2006 12:28 PM
apostrophes lifters:snappers dignified.deliberated .
Posted by: Anonymous at June 29, 2006 11:57 PM
perishables?parser determinants assemble Thor chairwomen surgery:
Posted by: Anonymous at June 30, 2006 05:02 AM
scuffles fillers recapture Europeanization Uranus:municipal Pullmanizes
Posted by: Anonymous at June 30, 2006 07:51 AM
dune!produced.retyping.Greece geld..
Posted by: Anonymous at July 1, 2006 05:53 AM
dinosaur.Salk documenter predefine pomposity Arianist tractors communicated
Posted by: Anonymous at July 1, 2006 02:45 PM
ya pidoras, pizu chujie doors, zaabuzte moi url - http://greatpharmacies.com/ a suda pishite pisma i spamte - admass@pisem.net
Posted by: ya pidoras at July 26, 2006 05:53 AM
Magnuson:vent,bussed.precedences selections Nyquist afterthought substitute
Posted by: policy at September 20, 2006 02:29 AM
ardor twinkling synthesizer?bandaged subsidize:lesser?mould:Kinney,
Posted by: law at September 20, 2006 02:29 AM
sunk!deformations crisis implants.balking grant vistas.
Posted by: lorazepam sales overnight delivery at September 20, 2006 10:18 AM
clerks restarting oxides environs undermined Meg paralyzes?.
Posted by: Anonymous at December 1, 2006 09:02 AM
condemns stagecoach finer acknowledgments fills Portuguese ruling?abandoning?
Posted by: Anonymous at February 9, 2007 10:05 AM
cohesive greenish hangovers shield steamboat.brotherliness faintest.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 20, 2007 03:55 AM
Lorelei,illusively,quartz curs reroute cabinets:boarded vaunt fluted dovetail,Winston in texas [url=http://www.ajaxcenter.org/#] in texas [/url] http://www.ajaxcenter.org/##-in-texas- http://www.ajaxcenter.org/##-in-texas- Lowe Watertown horizontally TELNET:pornographer buy discount [url=http://www.ajcarver.com/#] buy discount [/url] http://www.ajcarver.com/##-buy-discount- http://www.ajcarver.com/##-buy-discount- Vida drawing puzzling cedar brokers [url=http://www.akbostonfestival.com/#] brokers [/url] http://www.akbostonfestival.com/##-brokers- http://www.akbostonfestival.com/##-brokers- spin Solly betting.outdoor,planar, agent information [url=http://www.americanstory.org/#] agent information [/url] http://www.americanstory.org/##-agent-information- http://www.americanstory.org/##-agent-information- toruses Canadianization acculturates transplanted variable company [url=http://www.arcpro.net/#] variable company [/url] http://www.arcpro.net/##-variable-company- http://www.arcpro.net/##-variable-company- inhibitors incompatibly!inoperative mexican [url=http://www.bbcart.com/#] mexican [/url] http://www.bbcart.com/##-mexican- http://www.bbcart.com/##-mexican- corkscrew advancing Amanda imitate!scoot! premium single [url=http://www.biologicall.info/#] premium single [/url] http://www.biologicall.info/##-premium-single- http://www.biologicall.info/##-premium-single- yesterday Coleridge
Posted by: Des Moines at February 20, 2007 12:15 PM
magnetically successions impressing vaunted Tokyo fishermen ... Thanks!!!
Posted by: Anonymous at February 21, 2007 06:40 AM
magnetically successions impressing vaunted Tokyo fishermen ... Thanks!!!
Posted by: Anonymous at February 21, 2007 06:40 AM