It's a nesting doll-slash-oroborous problem: women's writing is frequently seen as being less powerful, important and universal than men's, even when it deals with identical themes; as a result, it's assumed to be of interest only to other women, and overwhelmingly marketed in accordance with a deeply outdated and stereotypical view of what women find interesting; thus, women who dislike being treated as an uncomplicated, amorphous demographic on the basis of gender learn to associate both chick lit and its trademark covers with an attempt to patronise them; which leads, unfortunately, to a situation whereby many feminists are dismissive of chick lit precisely because it's female-oriented -- or rather, because the type of femininity used to market it is narrow and traditional to a degree they can neither endorse nor tolerate, even if they're otherwise capable of admitting that femininity isn't incompatible with feminism; consequently, their denigration of the genre is seen as confirmation of the original, sexist assumption that women's writing is inherently less intellectual than its male equivalent, which tells both critics and marketeers alike that they were right all along, and to keep on treating such novels as unthreatening, light-hearted fluff, regardless of their actual themes and content.posted by Phire at 8:57 AM on February 7 [5 favorites]
"For those of you who have not read this series, I will give you a summary: Anne is a young red-headed orphan sent to live on a farm on Prince Edward Island. Unfortunately the adoptive family wanted a boy but she does her best to fit in and warm their hearts. However, after coping with her feelings of abandonment and insecurity, getting her best friend drunk, getting teased by a boy in school, and losing the only real father figure she's ever known, she dyes her hair blonde, dons a plaid shirt and becomes the town whore of Avonlea. The second two books continue with Anne's life of debauchery, manipulation, and promiscuity. In the final book she is promoted to Island whore. A must-read for any young girl trying to find her place in the world!"
« Older NEW from VIDEO Magazine, arising out of its popula... | Thanks to the Archive Team's r... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
It's a wide wonderful world, and one can't be expected to think of everything for oneself.
posted by OmieWise at 6:14 AM on February 7 [7 favorites]