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Women’s Fiction / Chick Lit

Public Group active 5 days, 7 hours ago ago

Women’s fiction is any fiction marketed to female readers; mainstream novels, “chick lit,” and similar. (No erotica please – see separate group)

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Opposite of Chick Lit (2 posts)

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  • Profile picture of Mary Jean mary2 said 11 months, 4 weeks ago ago:

    What is the opposite of Chick Lit? Is there a “Men’s Fiction” genre?

  • Profile picture of T.K. Marnell tkmarnell said 11 months, 1 week ago ago:

    I don’t think there’s an opposite term to use. There are only genres that are more popular with men, like thrillers, Westerns, and Sci-Fi. But before anyone makes allegations of ingrained sexism in society, I think there are several reasons for this:

    1) Women are allowed to be “sappy,” “shallow,” and all the other adjectives associated with a phrase like “Chick Lit.” Men aren’t. Reading that stuff makes boys “nerds” and/or “sissies.”

    2) Most genres were created many decades ago, before modern waves created niches for “Chick Lit” or “Urban Fantasy” or “Paranormal Romance.” There has never been a big social movement to make literature for men because historically, men controlled the market. In the 19th century books were for men by default, and women only sidled in for the Gothic melodramas. “Girls’ fiction” didn’t spring up until the late Victorian era, when children’s education started to become more universal and magazines became more affordable.

    3) If we tried to create a “Men’s Fiction” genre now, a lot of Neofeminists would be up in arms. In general, you can’t have any label exclusively for men. You can have professional organizations for Women in Computing or Women in Science, and special sports and science camps for girls, and that’s admirable because it’s “closing the gap” (let’s ignore the fact that 60% of the students in universities are women, because boys have been thrown to the dogs in public schools). But if you tried to do the same with a Men in Computing fraternity, you’d be lynched.

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