Postfeminism in the Classroom: Chick Lit as a Genre

A Prospectus by Melissa Thom

Mentor: Victoria Arthur

Background

As an English major, I’ve been taught to appreciate anything printed in Norton’s Anthology. For nine months out of the year, I read Pulitzer Prize winners, poetical dream teams and works that need a dictionary to comprehend. In class, I talk about how novels make me feel; themes, motives, craft techniques and historical context are all also apart of the conversation. I live for those conversations, and would have it no other way. But when it comes to those three months when I can read anything that tickles my fancy, I find myself allergic to anything deemed “tasteful.”

And so I approach the summer as any twenty-something woman would: I read trash. Or trash in the sense that the literary critics think it not worth the pages it’s printed on. I may as well confess it now: I, Melissa Whitney Thom, English Literature major, am a lover of Chick Lit. I walk through the English department offices with my “Bridget Jones Forever!” pin snapped safely under my lapel next to the “I should have gone to Hogwarts” iron-on patch. My prized possessions? The Complete Works of Jane Austen and every book contemporary author Jane Green has ever written, including Jemima J and Mr. Maybe; each set of books with immaculate newly designed covers in pink, yellow, baby blue and made to attract the female eye.

As I look forward to the future, to what I hope will be a lucrative and accomplished career in trade book publishing, I wish to draw from my guilty pleasure and perhaps work for publishing houses that specialize in the development and publication of women’s writing. Naturally, when thinking about a topic for my senior paper, this interest of mine has been a top contender. I hope to draw from my analytical and critical skills developed over these three years and create a piece dedicated to shining light on a genre that represents an entirely new woman: the Postfeminist.

Current Project

From the viewpoint that Chick Lit is a profound representation of the Postfeminist woman, I will argue and give evidence to why the genre should be taught as a part of the current university level, English Literature program. I will use specific examples of novels that have clearly left their mark on the social, cultural and literary lives of women everywhere, as well as on the best-selling lists. In addition, I hope to provide facts concerning the genre that would be required to examine the novels in a literary context as well as the reasons for Chick Lit’s irrefutable success, facts such as the ones Norton’s provides before introducing an author or a genre in their anthologies.

Plan for the Next Two Months

With the guidance of my mentor, Victoria Arthur, I hope to stick to a rigorous reading schedule, with deadlines yet to be determined, of novels, literary journals and journalistic pieces devoted to the genre. I already have a preliminary reading list with many more in queue. I will also have to make decisions as to which Chick Lit novels I wish to include in my recommendation for the curriculum and develop criteria for making such decisions.  Development of all of my information into a cohesive work will, I believe, be my biggest obstacle and only overcome by hard work, lots of time to think and passion for my topic.

Ideas About How to Present This Work

My first thought about how to present this work would be a Powerpoint presentation. But I wish to think of something more creative in the next two months. Perhaps the creation of a more artistic visual aide would be more appropriate, as I view this project as something very “here and now,” and simply a report would be unconvincing to my audience. Certainly I will bring in copies of the books I hope to recommend to give the audience something concrete to look at and something to browse through. Since ultimately my audience will be the professors I am hoping to convince to teach postfeminism, I will try to present my research as thoroughly as possible to prove that I’ve done the hard work to back up my idea.

Tentative Bibliography

Crusie, Jennifer. Flirting with Pride and Prejudice: Fresh Perspectives on the Original Chick Lit Masterpiece. BenBella Books: Dallas, Texas. 2005.

Donadio, Rachel. “The Chick Lit Pandemic”. The New York Times. New York, New     York. March 19, 2006: 31.

Dowd, Maureen. “Heels Over Hemingway”. The New York Times. New York, New      York. February 19, 2007.

Ferris, Suzanne and Young, Mallory. Chick Lit: The New Woman’s Fiction. Routledge: New York, New York, 2006.

Fielding, Helen. Bridget Jones’ Diary. Penguin Books: New York, New York. 1996.

Green, Jane. Bookends. Broadway Books: New York, New York. 2002.

Memmott, Carol. “Chick Lit, For Better or Worse, Is Here to Stay”. USA TODAY.          McLean, Virginia. June 20, 2006.