Do you consider the book to be Chick Lit?

Use this forum to discuss the February 2018 Book of the Month, "The Reel Sisters" by Michelle Cummings.
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Sharon2056
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Re: Do you consider the book to be Chick Lit?

Post by Sharon2056 »

I don't think the book is purely chick lit simply because it was centred among women. There are alot of issues brought up as the book progresses, terming it as chicklit somehow reduces it's scope of audience.
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ericahs
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Post by ericahs »

I'm really loving this discussion. I suppose the first part of this is figuring out how you are defining "chitlit" in the first place. Is just that the protagonists aren't male? Are there specific plot points that seem distinctly feminine in your opinion for some reason? I think you began to deconstruct your definition or your understanding of the relationship between gender and literature your question might answer itself. I'm not trying to sway you, either way, I just think analyzing you own understanding of gender and how a canon or genre is defined is important.
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Post by Londera »

I think on the surface it would be considered "Chick Lit" because women can relate to it more due to the female leads. But I feel as if the themes in the story transcend its genre.
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Post by EricaWilson »

This book sets out to break gender barriers. Fly fishing could be seen by some as "a man's job", but instead this book puts five women in the role, and shows how their skills allow them to thrive. Also, everyone can relate to the struggles that the women face. Therefore, I don't think that it would be classified as Chick Lit. Both genders could benefit greatly from reading this story and would enjoy it.
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Post by Shelle »

EricaWilson wrote: 07 Mar 2018, 23:52 This book sets out to break gender barriers. Fly fishing could be seen by some as "a man's job", but instead this book puts five women in the role, and shows how their skills allow them to thrive. Also, everyone can relate to the struggles that the women face. Therefore, I don't think that it would be classified as Chick Lit. Both genders could benefit greatly from reading this story and would enjoy it.
I agree. Labeling this book as 'Chick Lit' (hate that term, by the way) is so limiting and belittling. Just like one does not need to be male to enjoy a book with male characters, one does not need to be a 'chick' to enjoy a book with female characters.
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Post by revna01 »

The possibly negative conotation of the term "chick lit" not withstanding, I wholeheartedly feel this book falls into the category. It is somewhat reminiscent of "Waiting to Exhale", with a different cast and a different method of bonding. And that's a great thing! The central characters are all female, their thoughts made known to the reader through first-person narration. As such, I believe the author was specifically trying to appeal to a primarily female audience.
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Post by Butterflybookworm »

I've never really liked the term chick lit. It gives the impression that the reader only wants something light and fluffy and not really of any substance. The main characters maybe female but that's really the only thing that may make it seem more popular for a woman to read. If the main characters were men then probably more men would read the book.
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Post by Aphroditelaughs »

One problem with marketing a book as "chick lit" is all that tells you is there are female characters who get to be people instead of side kicks. It's more a definition of what it isn't. A book about a bunch of guys isn't marketed as "dude lit" (or whatever the catchy term would be. Ideas?) It's just a book about people. Most chick lit is also just about people, but those people happen to be female. So when I see something marketed as chick lit, I have no idea what the book is about, aside from the female-ness of the characters. And I usually buy a book because the description sounds compelling, not because it has female characters.

bookowlie wrote: 23 Feb 2018, 14:48 I agree this book could be considered chick lit or the more modern term, "women's contemporary fiction." :) The main characters are a bunch of female friends and have girls-only get-togethers that are usually very light-hearted. I can see why an author might not want to market a book as chick lit since the genre is not usually taken seriously. Many readers look down on chick lit and don't want to read a book if it's labelled as such.
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Post by krithikagowri »

I don't consider the book to be a complete chick lit though there were places where it brushed upon the genre.
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Post by MollyEnter »

bookowlie wrote: 26 Feb 2018, 11:32 Yes, fluffy and vapid are good words to describe the stereotype of a chick lit book. I think some publishers market a book as chick lit, thinking they will sell more copies. They will also use a sexy cover for these books. Jennifer Weiner's early books are a good example. I always thought she was a good writer and her books shouldn't have been considered chick lit. Still, someone decided to put a sexy cover on her early books, even though the cover didn't reflect the plot.
But then again, there's a reason for the saying, "Don't judge a book by the cover." I can't even remember how many books I've read where the cover is no indication of what the book will be like, especially when it comes to the quality of the writing. I wholeheartedly believe this, but in the other hand, do I still buy /read a book because I like the cover? Yes, I certainly do. It's kind of like food: the whole experience is made up of individual aspects (how it looks, how it smells, the texture, how it tastes, how it is initially described, etc.). Which brings me to my assessment that I would not label The Reel Sisters as "chick lit." Just because it's about women does not dictate that it falls into that category. In my review, I did recommend women might enjoy it more than men, but I think it's because women can appreciate the sexism that goes along with the five main characters bonding over a predominantly male-dominated support such as fly fishing.
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Post by Jfoust1988 »

The book has many elements of chick lit. But when you dove deeper its more of inspiration novel in my open. That perhaps is the reason it wasn't marked as chick lit. Given the diminished out look many have of the chick lit genre.
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Post by EllieA »

Emma13 wrote: 24 Feb 2018, 10:33 It is an interesting question. Just because the main characters in a book are male, we don't assume that only men will read it, so why do we make the opposite assumption with books about women? I guess we still have this idea that the default character is a male (probably white and straight, too).
*sigh* I used to have this debate with my husband all the time. He insisted he just isn't interested in stories about women, even if they aren't steriotypical "chic lit." We eventually narrowed it down to two things for him: 1) What we read in school growing up. The whole class read stories about boys (Huckleberry Finn, White Fang, etc.) but stories about girls (Little Women, Island of the Blue Dolphins) were optional selections for when people chose what to read. 2) He doesn't connect with the voice of the author in most women's fiction. A lot of it seems to come down to a difference in how men and women seem to write. He likes female characters like Lyra in The Golden Compass, who is written by a man, but doesn't connect to female characters written by a woman as easily.
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Post by Zain A Blade »

I believe this book will particularly interest men, for the simple fact that it talks about women engaging in a typically male sport. The world of women has long been a mystery for most men, and this book offers an exclusive glimpse into the psyche of women in a familiar setting of fly-fishing that men can easily relate to and enjoy reading.
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Post by shraddharm »

bookowlie wrote: 23 Feb 2018, 14:48 I agree this book could be considered chick lit or the more modern term, "women's contemporary fiction." :) The main characters are a bunch of female friends and have girls-only get-togethers that are usually very light-hearted. I can see why an author might not want to market a book as chick lit since the genre is not usually taken seriously. Many readers look down on chick lit and don't want to read a book if it's labelled as such.
That is true. I have a lot of friends that do not like chick lit but they did read this book and found it interesting. I found it impressive too.
-R
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Post by TashaCrispin »

I think the author didn't want to define the book as ''chick lit'' because most people do not take them seriously. Most that are branded that way are usually full of fluff and drama. The information portrayed in the book is deep where people get an idea of the human nature. I think the author wanted the book to be taken seriously enough in order for it to reach a wide audience.
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