Best-selling female novelists recently expressed their dismay over the word "chick lit," the label given to most novels written by female authors.
Among those who expressed disagreement over the word is author Marian Keyes. "It's definitely a pejorative term. I'm going to quote Gandhi here: 'First they ignore you, then they mock you, then they fight you,'" Keyes said, according to The Telegraph. The 51-year-old Irish writer, who had sold 30 million copies of her books, said that labelling women's work as "chick lit" is "one way of keeping women less well paid and having to do more work is to mock them and anything they love."
Other female novelists agree with Keyes' sentiments. Speaking to BuzzFeed, author Mhairi McFarlane says that the term "chick lit" is "very 'back in your box'. Bestselling author Jojo Moyes does not sit well with the term, either. "I wish all commercial fiction by women was not lumped lazily under that same umbrella," Moyes said.
McFarlane defined chick lit as "anything commercial by a female author," and she finds this definition "ridiculous". Keyes, McFarlane, and Moyes have written books that tackle heavy and controversial topics such as suicide, bullying, life issues, and even depression. Keyes' memoir, "Saved By The Cake" discusses her three-year battle with depression, and she was able to cope with it through baking.
It can get difficult to exactly define chick lit. Many believe that the genre had long existed, tracing its roots back to Jane Austen and Emily Bronte. But nonetheless, the use of the term is still widespread. The debate of whether chick lit should be taken seriously or not has also been ongoing, according to an article by Salon. Best-selling authors Jennifer Weiner and Jodi Picoult have also showed their dislike with the label, and says that by labelling female works as chick lit suggests gender inequality.
"Women are reviewed less frequently and differently than men and there are fewer female reviewers," Picoult said in an interview with New York Times Magazine. McFarlane cited the crime novels marketed towards male readers as an example. "Look at the respect accorded to foil-title crime novels or brainless action movies as valid entertainment, by comparison," McFarlane said.
"I'm not saying this in anger - it's a simple fact that one way of keeping women shut up is to call the things they love 'fluff'. It's a device," Keyes said. "And I think people probably aren't even aware that's what's going on, but it's absolutely innate in our society that anything pertaining to women will be treated with less respect and given disrespectful names."