I’ve not written a blog post in quite a while, so thank you to my followers for being patient with me. In the meantime, I hope you have enjoyed my posts about featured authors and books.
I’m proud to say that I am a huge fan of the Chick Lit genre. Without the following authors, I wouldn’t have been inspired to be the Chick Lit Goddess. For this, I say thank you to Olivia Goldsmith, Jane Green, Jennifer Weiner, Meg Cabot, Candace Bushnell, Jane Porter, and of course, Emily Giffin, for inspiring me.
Through my Chick Lit Goddesses Facebook group, I found something that really made me mad, mad being the nice way of saying it. On Monday there was an article on The Atlantic written by Emily Matchar titled “Chick Lit Is Dead, Long Live Farm Lit.” Stemming from the numerous comments on the FB page, I was curious, so I clicked the link and began to read. Without explaining the article word-by-word, I’m going to share the following sentences that really had me livid.
- Well I have news. Yes, chick lit is dead (or dying, at least). But in its place, we now have a new genre. Call it “farm lit.”
- Thanks to the economy, picket fences and scruffy farm hands have replaced stilettos and cute i-bankers in literature aimed at women. (This was the subtitle.)
- So many of chick lit’s tropes—stilettos! Fighting for your big break in journalism! Cute i-bankers! The hottest new nightclub in the Meatpacking District!—were part of a boomtime economy. These days, we’re mostly wearing flats, journalism is breathing its last gasps, we’d rather throw i-bankers in jail than date them, and cupcake baking seems a lot more fun (and cheaper!) than clubbing.
First off, what the hell is “farm lit?” I even Googled it, then laughed to myself when no definition was given. Just because a city girl runs off to a small town doesn’t make it “farm lit.” In my third book, Somewhere Down in Texas, which I’m still writing, it is about a big city girl who goes back home to Texas, but does that make it “farm lit”? No! To me, it doesn’t matter where the setting is. In Kristina Knight’s books, there are strong elements of country girls and I consider them to be Chick Lit.
Has Chick Lit changed overtime? Yes, but that doesn’t mean the genre has disappeared. If anything, I think it’s grown more popular because of modern times. We want someone to relate to us, so what do we do? Pick up a Chick Lit. Have you ever read a Chick Lit and after finishing it, said, “Geez, that’s my life?” I know I have! Think how many Chick Lit books Jennifer Weiner and Emily Giffin have written. How many times have they been at top of the charts? Between the two of them, they’ve written 18 books, and I don’t seem them stopping soon.
After taking a long sigh, I did some research on the author of The Atlantic article. Emily Matchar seems to be very opinionated, black and white writer, who sees no shades of grey. On her website, it said that she went to Harvard. Now, I’m not saying she was in a library the entire time and didn’t have fun, but the way she bashed the Chick Lit genre so bad, it seems that way. By the title of her book, which is coming out soon, Homeward Bound seems like it would be a great fit for women in the 1950’s. There is nothing wrong with, as the quote says on her site, the “new domesticity” – the re-embrace of all kinds of old-fashioned domestic skills, like canning, bread-baking, knitting, chicken-raising, etc.,” but times have changed. Women are in the workforce, so what’s wrong with taking a breath and running to the country for a getaway, or even an extended stay? Nothing!
I want to let Emily Matchar know that Chick Lit is alive and kicking, so “farm lit,” is dead!
I’d love to hear what you have to say, so please leave a comment!
Well said, Isabella!
You said it. Chick Lit is not about the setting. It’s not about shopping. It’s not about martinis. It’s about modern women finding their way and doing it with a sense if humor. To me, Chick Lit is all about the voice. Long live Chick Lit!
Thank you, Lucie! Yes, voice is a huge factor in Chick Lit books!
Great definition! Love it!!!
Viva La Chick Lit forever!
Agreed, Meredith! 🙂
Yes! Chick Lit is about strong, independent women finding their way, told in a fast-paced, witty and relatable voice that makes you want to turn the pages as fast as you can.
So very true, Samantha! 🙂
I’m glad you did some research about the author of the article. It all makes sense now. SHE wrote a “farm lit” book. She’s obviously one of these writers who thinks chick lit is beneath her, so she coined a completely different name to suit her purposes. I see… Hmmm… And sure, if the voice isn’t chick lit, and she’s more women’s literary fiction or whatever, then fine. But I’ve always found that people who need to rip on other people to make themselves feel better are called one thing: bullies. So… I’m going to classify her book as “Bully Lit.” Bully for her. See? It even works on more than one level. Awesome.
Bull-yah!
Brava! I have to admit I haven’t read the article because my feathers are already so ruffled for so many other reasons, but this Emily Matchar sounds like a twit (and Matchar sounds like a lame made-up last name). Good for you, fearless goddess leader!! Ya done us proud! (Which may or may not be farm-lit speak…??) xo
So Emily Matchar thinks Chick Lit is dead? Ha! She needs to wake up from that dream. Farm Lit….really? Sure, of course I dream of slopping pigs, shoveling horse manure or, even worse, chicken sh*t. I want to ruin my nails and complexion by keeping a huge garden and then spending days canning the harvest. NOT…NOT…NOT! I want a man who gets up before daylight demanding a full breakfast and expects to sit down to meat and three and fresh, homemade biscuits at noon and again at sundown. NOT…NOT…NOT! Forget sex….too damned tired. FARM LIT IS A BIG FAT LIE. GET OVER YOURSELF, EMILY MATCHAR!
Love this post, Isabella. I’m off to write another CHICK LIT book now (about a girl who lives on a farm :p )
Love it! My book was called ‘ru-ro’ (rural romance) because it was about a woman from a regional city (she’d not ever lived on a farm), apparently because it wasn’t set in a metropolitan capital city, that makes it ‘rural’? Huh? Have people forgotten that people live in cities outside the capital?!
Excellent! I’m all for reading a book about a girl on a farm (though the city girls thrown into the rural life kind of irk me…I’m a small town girl who’s dating a farm boy, you see) but that doesn’t mean it’s its own genre. Should we start talking about “road trip lit” or “wedding lit” or…well, there are probably others but I’m still too annoyed to think of any. And I know we all know that chick lit isn’t dead but that doesn’t make it any less irritating when others bash our favourite genre. Thanks for this post! Loved reading it and all of the comments, too!
Great article. It always angers me when women trash the work of other women for three reasons:
1. They perpetuate the myth that there is an inferior version of a woman. As if Emily is somehow stronger than most because she doesn’t embrace feminine qualities. I happen to like chick lit, doesn’t make me weak. Plus, men are never chastised for reading ‘guy’ books.
2. It stops women from moving forward successfully because we have to defend ourselves. Not just to someone like Emily, but in conversations about why we choose chick lit or when someone rolls their eyes at the genre. I never see Martin Amis, Dan Brown or David Sedaris trash other ‘male’ genres. I also never see male authors asked to defend their choice of writing style.
3. They are usually trying to sell something which Emily is doing. Yet instead of discussing what makes her book great and trying to gain support in the industry, she has chosen to step all over those who came before her as writers. I for one, am happy reading a number of different genres and my book is classified by some as chick lit, some say it’s women’s fiction. Whichever the genre, I would rather applaud my fellow writers and try to help all of us succeed. It’s a lot more rewarding and fun.
Amen, Sheryn!
I love it now more than ever! As far as I’m concerned, it’s alive and it’s most certainly kicking – chick lit books constantly on the best seller lists testify to that. xxx