Even just typing out that term makes me cringe.

I mean, what does it really mean? This is the definition according to Wikipedia:

Chick lit is genre fiction which addresses issues of modern womanhood, often humorously and lightheartedly.”

Okay…that can describe most books and they are generally not considered to be “chick lit”. When you hear that definition, you think to yourself “That doesn’t sound so bad”. But then you hear this definition of chick lit, from a publisher no less, who changes your whole perception of the genre.This is a definition from the Harlequin imprint Red Dress Ink:

Red Dress Ink is a literary collection created in 2001 in the United States and published by Harlequin Editions since June 2003 in France, of which gender is the chick lit ‘: contemporary and urban comedies with unmarried heroines and thirties.”

Granted, this definition came from a Wikipedia entry and was in French but the impact of the statement is just the same: the term “chick lit” is a bit degrading. Continue reading “Weekly Tea Discussion: Chick Lit” →