Emily Carter
Chick lit is a genre of literature that focuses on female protagonists. These stories are usually targeted at younger women and are described as popular fiction. Chick lit is often considered to be an outdated and dismissive term for women's fiction. The genre is typically associated with romantic comedies or contemporary romance novels, and the stories often involve the protagonist navigating career, family, and relationship issues. While the term chick lit may carry certain connotations and baggage, it has been embraced by many readers and writers, particularly on platforms like Wattpad, where it continues to be a popular category of fiction.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Genre | Romance, comedy |
| Target audience | Young women, especially single, working women in their 20s and 30s |
| Protagonist | Female |
| Plot | A woman living in a big city who aspires after "cute" shoes and has a heterosexual romance |
| Tone | Light, breezy |
| Themes | Female empowerment, relationships, work |
| Setting | Contemporary |
| Cover | Stylized, abstracted picture of a woman holding a bag, done in several bright colours but mostly pink |
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What You'll Learn
- Chick lit is a genre of literature that focuses on female protagonists
- The typical chick lit plot involves a woman living in a big city
- Chick lit is considered an outdated and dismissive term for women's fiction
- The success of Bridget Jones and Sex and the City in book form established chick lit as a publishing trend
- Writers of women's popular fiction have increasingly distanced themselves from the term chick lit
Chick lit is a genre of literature that focuses on female protagonists
Chick lit is typically aimed at younger women and features relatable female protagonists in their 20s or 30s. These protagonists often navigate career, family, and relationship issues, and the stories are usually told in a light and breezy tone. While some chick lit books focus heavily on romance, others may explore a woman's relationship with her mother or her journey of self-improvement. The genre has been influential in publishing, with various sub-genres and regional variations emerging, such as "Sistah lit" for Black readers and "Chica lit" for Latina readers.
On Wattpad, chick lit by Filipino authors has been noted to have a unique perspective, as each book is a statement against societal pressures and judgments, portraying women as happy and empowered, and relationships with men as functional and mutually satisfying. Chick lit continues to be a popular category on the platform, with readers finding it relatable and enjoyable to see themselves represented in the stories they read.
While the term "chick lit" has faced criticism and is considered outdated by some, it remains a widely recognised category of fiction, especially on online platforms like Wattpad. The genre has provided a space for female protagonists to take centre stage and has offered readers a form of escape and pleasure in literature.
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The typical chick lit plot involves a woman living in a big city
Chick lit is a genre of literature that focuses on female protagonists. These stories are usually targeted at younger women and are described as “popular fiction”. The term "chick lit" is now considered outdated and dismissive, with many writers and publishers distancing themselves from it. However, it is still used to describe a type of fiction with female protagonists that deals with relationships, career, and family issues.
In the context of Wattpad, chick lit refers to stories written by and for Filipino women, featuring successful, emotional, and feminine characters. These stories are often a form of contemporary romance, set in the present day, and provide a sense of escapism for readers.
The typical chick lit plot, involving a woman living in a big city, often includes elements of romance and aspirations for a fashionable lifestyle. The protagonist is usually in her 20s or 30s and navigating her career, family, and romantic relationships. The tone of chick lit is typically light and breezy, with a focus on the heroine's personal growth and journey rather than solely on romantic relationships.
While some chick lit books qualify as romance novels, others may forgo romance entirely or have it as a secondary plotline. The setting is typically urban and contemporary, and the plot may involve the protagonist's aspirations for a successful career and a happy relationship. The Devil Wears Prada, The Nanny Diaries, and I Don't Know How She Does It are examples of chick lit that do not primarily focus on romance.
Chick lit has faced criticism for being "un-feminist" and "trashy", as well as for perpetuating stereotypes about women's literature. However, others argue that the genre is broader than these criticisms suggest and that it offers relatable and empowering stories for women.
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Chick lit is considered an outdated and dismissive term for women's fiction
"Chick lit" is a term used to describe a genre of fiction targeted at women that emerged in the 1990s. It is often considered an outdated and dismissive term for women's fiction, with numerous writers and critics rejecting it as inherently sexist. The term is derived from "chick", American slang for a young woman, and "lit", short for literature. While "chick lit" was once a popular category, with many titles topping bestseller lists in the late 1990s, the market became increasingly saturated, and publishers largely abandoned the category by the early 2010s.
Chick lit is typically characterized by its focus on the personal journeys and growth of urban, heterosexual women in their late twenties and early thirties. It often explores themes such as romantic relationships, female friendships, workplace struggles, and personal appearance in humorous and lighthearted ways. Notable works in this genre include Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary and Lauren Weisberger's The Devil Wears Prada.
The controversy surrounding chick lit initially focused on the literary value of books in this genre. Over time, the debate shifted towards the term itself and whether the concept of a chick lit genre is inherently sexist. Critics argue that the term reduces women's literature to a diminutive and trivializing category, perpetuating narrow and outdated notions of femininity. For example, in 1998, reviewer Alex Kuczynski condemned Bridget Jones's Diary, writing that "Bridget is such a sorry spectacle, wallowing in her man-crazed helplessness, that her foolishness cannot be excused."
In response to the backlash, writers of women's popular fiction began to distance themselves from the term "chick lit". For instance, Sophie Kinsella, a successful author in the chick lit genre, now refers to her work as "romantic comedy". Similarly, Marian Keyes, another prominent author in the genre, stated that the term is meant to be belittling, suggesting that women's interests in pink and shoes are incompatible with running the world.
While the concept of "chick lit" may have become outdated in developed-world English language literature, the term and its regional derivations continue to be used to describe and analyse popular women's literature in other languages and parts of the world. For example, in the US, ""Sistah lit" is targeted at black readers, while "Chica lit" is aimed at Latina readers. In India, the term "Ladki Lit" is used, and in Turkey, "çıtır literature" refers to literature for attractive young women.
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The success of Bridget Jones and Sex and the City in book form established chick lit as a publishing trend
Chick lit is a genre of fiction that is written for and marketed to young women, especially single, working women in their twenties and thirties. The genre typically addresses romantic relationships, female friendships, and workplace struggles in humorous and lighthearted ways. The protagonists of chick lit are usually urban, heterosexual women in their late twenties and early thirties.
Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary (1996, UK) and Candace Bushnell's Sex and the City (1997, US) are considered the "ur-texts" of chick lit. The success of these two novels in book form established chick lit as a publishing trend. By the late 1990s, chick lit titles regularly topped bestseller lists, and many imprints were devoted entirely to the genre. Bridget Jones's Diary and Sex and the City, which both began as newspaper columns, were adapted into a television program and a well-known film, respectively. These adaptations further contributed to the success and influence of chick lit.
The term "chick lit" was first used ironically in 1995 by Cris Mazza and Jeffrey DeShell as the title of their edited anthology, "Chick Lit: Postfeminist Fiction." Despite its initial ironic use, the term quickly became widely adopted in the publishing industry to describe a new genre of fiction that was emerging at the time.
While chick lit was incredibly popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the market became increasingly saturated, and by the early 2010s, publishers had largely abandoned the category. Additionally, the term "chick lit" has faced controversy, with some writers and critics rejecting it as inherently sexist and belittling. Despite this, chick lit has evolved and adapted to different cultural contexts and continues to be a popular category of fiction for readers and amateur writers on the internet.
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Writers of women's popular fiction have increasingly distanced themselves from the term chick lit
Chick lit is a genre of fiction that usually features a stylized young woman, handbag, stilettos, and a martini glass on the cover. The title is written in a light-hearted, often cursive font, and the word "shopping" figures largely in the jacket copy. The main characters have much in common with the main characters of Sex and the City in regard to their sizes, shapes, occupations, and consuming interests. They generally have (minor) weight issues, men issues, and life issues that are written about in a light-hearted, gently self-mocking way.
Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary (1996, UK) is considered the "Ur-text" of chick lit, while Candace Bushnell's (US) 1997 novel Sex and the City, adapted into a well-known television program, has had a huge ongoing cultural influence. By the late 1990s, chick lit titles regularly topped bestseller lists, and many imprints were entirely devoted to them.
However, by the mid-2000s, commentators noted that the market was increasingly saturated, and by the early 2010s, publishers had largely abandoned the category. The term "chick lit" became outdated in developed-world English language literature, with writers of women's popular fiction increasingly distancing themselves from it. Many argued that the dismissals of their work were rooted in sexism. For example, in a 2010 Guardian article, humor writer DJ Connell changed her writing name from Diane to DJ to avoid the chick lit label. Sophie Kinsella and Marian Keyes, two authors who achieved success through and beyond the chick lit era, now reject the term. Kinsella refers to her work as "romantic comedy", while Keyes called the term belittling, saying:
> "It's meant to be belittling. It's as if it's saying, 'Oh you silly girls, with your pinkness and shoes, how will you ever run the world?' But as I've matured (haha) I've realized that I'm very proud of what I write about and I know that the books I write bring happiness and comfort to people."
Other writers, like Jenny Colgan, have also strongly turned against the term, observing that:
> "Chick-lit is a deliberately condescending term they use to rubbish us all. If they called it slut-lit it couldn't be any more insulting."
Despite this backlash, the term "chick lit" persists as a popular category of fiction for both readers and amateur writers on the internet. While the concept has become outdated in developed-world English language literature, the term, and regional derivations of it, continue to be widely used to describe and analyse popular women's literature in other languages and parts of the world. For example, in Brazil, chick lit in translation is categorized as "Literatura de mulherzinha", which means "little-women's literature". Similarly, in India, the term "Ladki Lit" has been used.
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Frequently asked questions
Chick lit is a genre of literature that focuses on female protagonists. These stories are usually targeted at younger women and are described as “popular fiction”. Chick lit is now considered an outdated and dismissive term for women's fiction. On Wattpad, chick lit/women's fiction/contemporary romance books by Filipino authors have been very successful.
The typical chick lit plot is: a woman living in a big city who aspires after "cute" shoes and has a boring happy-ever-after heterosexual romance. However, some chick lit books are much more focused on work than romance or forgo the romance entirely. Chick lit is often written in a light, breezy tone.
Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary, Candace Bushnell's Sex and the City, and The Devil Wears Prada are all considered chick lit. Wattpad writer Anna Bell is known for her chick lit stories, including Millie and the American Wedding.
Chick lit has been criticised for being “un-feminist” and “trashy”. The term itself has also been criticised as being sexist and belittling, suggesting that this type of literature could only appeal to women and is, therefore, lesser than other types.
