Hey, it’s no joke.
Two women walked into a bookstore, didn’t like what they saw, banded together and wrote to the company president and had the label “women’s fiction” removed from the store. You can read the whole article here. (Um, after you finish the blog post of course.)
The crux of the story is this: they did not like that all the books under the Women’s Fiction label had pink covers and fluffy titles. There were no heady books, nothing serious, which proliferated the message that that is what women’s fiction is about. So now there’s no women’s fiction section in that store. They won! We won!
Or did we?
I agree with their dismay and disdain for the differentiation — but as you all may have guessed, I have no problem in general with the label women’s fiction. No, there isn’t men’s fiction per se, but I like knowing what I’m in for, what the prize is at the bottom of the cereal box before I dig my hand all the way through the hearts, moons, stars and clovers to find it. (who, me?)
To me, the problem to me is not the category women’s fiction but what is placed under it. If that section of the store had included Margaret Atwood, Elinor Lipman, Meg Waite Clayton, Jane Austen, Anne Tyler, Willa Cather — would anyone have a problem? Sparkles and flowers and Manolo Blahniks on book covers might keep men out of that section of the store — it’s true. But — if all sorts of women’s fiction were readily displayed and available? Hey, smart men know that smart women like to talk about books — so frankly — if they’re not paying attention to women-centric writing today, they’re missing out in a number of ways.
No, it’s not fair that women’s books are lumped together in a unforgiving nature. (Newsflash: Life isn’t Fair) But the solution isn’t to do away with the genre label women’s fiction – it’s to reinterpret what it means for the masses. And I think that conversations like this help to do that.
What I don’t agree with is that all books appeal to everyone. I honestly think — that some (some!!!) books about women are going to appeal mostly to women. I’ve read books for which I’m over the moon and just know that the men I know who are avid readers just wouldn’t get into them. And some other books – absolutely for men and women. I don’t have a problem reading or writing a book that appeals to women mostly – or only. Women buy most of the books. Most of my friends are women. I like being a woman. Equality on the bookshelves to me, means give my book a rockin’ cover and good placement, not — please put me next to a great male author so men see it. If I wrote a book that might appeal more to the men than to women and I was commandeered to the pink department because I’m female — no, I wouldn’t like that. And, I do not like that women authors are not reviewed as readily or as dynamically or in as highly regarded publications as men. That bugs me to no end.
But — books are marketed — I believe (but what do I know?) to the people who are most likely to buy them.
When there was a bookstore in the neighboring town (sigh) — I went straight for the Fiction and Literature section every time and my eyes scanned shelves not only for favorite authors but for book titles and book covers that caught my eye. And usually — I walked away with women’s fiction or, what I’d call contemporary literature. Men were looking at books in the same sections but rarely were we picking up the same books.
When it comes to a section of a bookstore or a category/genre of books — what it’s called on the outside is much less important to me than the substance of what I find on the inside.
Sound familiar?
Now, tell me — what do you think?
To answer your question, yes I would have a problem if Margaret Atwood et al were marketed as women’s fiction. I would have a big problem with that, because that would mean ‘women authors’ had become synonymous with ‘women’s fiction’.
It’s interesting that you mention books read mainly by women, and then you mention books read by men AND women, but you don’t mention another hypothetical category: books read by men
Perhaps this is because women read about men, because women are genuinely interested in the male experience. So why should women just accept, as natural, that men would not be interested in the female experience equally?
A good book is a good book. I’d be glad to see the marketing term of ‘women’s fiction’ gone altogether.
Hi Stace,
I didn’t mean to suggest women authors all wrote women’s fiction — it was an example (at least in my own mind – sometimes hard to translate) of fuzzy lines sometimes in literature.
Amy
Oh no!! What shall I call my almost-finished novel now? Not only is it WOMEN’S FICTION, but it’s WOMEN’S FICTION with a ROMANTIC twist!! Oh, the pain. (Hope my humor is shining through…)
Seriously, this was a very good article. Another example of how we are going to PC ourselves to death. So what if it’s women’s fiction? That doesn’t meant it’s all fluff, pink rainbows, sparkles, and horses.
I just went to my Borders 80% off sale and picked 2 books that I initially was attracted to by the covers alone (no pink rainbows. Or high heels on them, either). Luckily the plots sounded great, too!
Humor loud and clear, Karoline!
Frankly, if I had a publisher that thought a pink cover would mean I’d sell more books — pink away. But that being said – I do believe my book IS women’s fiction. Would a guy like it? My agent sure does! 🙂
Amy
Great post. I, too, struggle with the title Women’s Fiction, especially since I write such- and the fact that as many men read my books as do women. However, mine are not cutesy stories. Rather dealing with life and life events.
Your post, Amy, causes me to wonder how many men read cutesy pink- cover books in secret? 🙂
I admit, I choose mostly women authors today. However, I am currently reading John Pipkin’s The Woodsburner, about Thoreau as a young man and finding it delightful.
Choices–isn’t it marvelous to have them?
I do so love it when (via a savvy critique partner) we’re right, having dropped “women’s” in favor of commercial fiction in our query.
I do so hate it when we’re right.
Sigh.
Seems to me that Women’s Fiction, whether it is segregated or not, will not be readily *bought* by men. My husband will *read* Women’s Fiction – but will not pick any out on his own. Does that denigrate the genre? I don’t think so – it just makes it clear the type of book it is. In all honesty, a lot of people understand it best when I describe my novel as “an Oprah novel”.
I understand that some can be frustrated that there is no corresponding “Men’s Fiction” in the same way that people unnecessarily feel the need to make something feminine (like saying “chefette” when “chef” is gender-neutral), but in the end, at this point in time, I have no problems with the genre segregation.
This is an interesting discussion! Frankly I’m pretty surprised that bookstore buckled to those two women! Because the bottom line is that publishing and book selling is a business and as such it is market driven… sorry to sound jaded, but I can only assume the bookstore believed they’d make more money changing their tact! If publishers think it will sell books to define them as women’s fiction then I assume they’ll market them that way. If I’m lucky enough to have one of my books published, I’ll accept any color cover (or targeted marketing approach) my publisher decides. For me when I choose books? I rarely pay attention to the signs in bookstores or assigned labels — because I assume it’s all about the marketing, and I like to find my own way.
Great Post Amy!
And now a word from the ignorant: I’ve been writing for decades. I didn’t know there was such a thing as “women’s fiction” until I pursued the publishing portion of my life, joined a couple of writer’s groups and dug in. I don’t like labels… probably because I’m a rule breaker by nature 🙂 Sound like I’m a rebel? Read on.
If left up to me, I would have missed out on Laura K Hamilton’s world of fairies (I would NEVER read Horror or soft porn!!!) or Dean Koontz’s world of Odd Thomas. Those books were handed to me by a friend who KNEW I would secretly love them. I did. That being said, I have naturally settled in to enjoy “women’s fiction.” When I pick up a book by Nora, Sara Addison Allen, or Fanny Flag for that matter, I will be taken into a world where women are strong, gooey in the middle, cleaver and full of insight. Something to aspire to… It’s where I live, it’s what I write and it’s what I’m comfortable with. Most days I feel like cuddling up with something I can melt into. Yes, like knowing what the prize is before I dig to the bottom.
so, OK, I just came full circle… I don’t like labels (I repeat) now I look for them. I mean how else am I supposed to know how many calories are inside the cover? Pink? I laugh in the face of pink… come to think of it I would probably pick up a pink book just to see if the words can back up it’s image. Pink can be a powerful color… it’s all in the “shade”.
It doean’t matter what we’re called, won’t change what it is, who we are, what we weave into our creations. Women’s fiction is Women being women and doing it admireably. ‘They’ could label us “lettus” and we’d say, “Yeah! Let us show you how we do it.”
Thanks for another great Tuesday morning post,
Warmest wishes,
DeAnna Williams
Well, since brick-and-mortar bookstores are being demolished one by one, it probably won’t be a problem much longer. Every cloud has a dull gray lining 😀
I must admit: as a masters student in library science, I had never heard of the genre “women’s fiction” until I had to figure out how to classify my own writings. It seems like a somewhat artificial category; people can usually point to a book with a picture of a knight on a dragon and say it’s Fantasy, a picture of a bloody knife and call it Mystery/Suspense, or a cartoon of high heels and call it Chick Lit, but I have never seen someone pick up an adult fiction book featuring a strong female protagonist and call it “Women’s Fiction.” Authors and publishers are more concerned with the label than actual readers.
One of the beauties of Web 2.0 is that you can apply almost as many categories as you want. You’re not stuck on a single shelf, relying on people to walk over to a certain section based on the signage or neighboring works. Labeling your work “Women’s Fiction” online can only help its visibility to potential readers, and won’t take it out of view for any other categories. So why not?
Agree 100% that what it’s called or labeled on the outside is of lesser importance than the weight that the words within carry. Like you, I’ve gotten used to going to the “Literature/Fiction” section, and that’s OK with me because I do veer toward the more literary women’s fiction novels.
But this discussion is a good one. Labels stink, and that bookstore clearly didn’t do its homework with all of the things to include in its selection. If we’ve learned anything from you, Amy Sue, it’s that women’s fiction has a broad, broad umbrella.
And isn’t it men who write those books for “Idiots?”…just sayin’. 😉
My feeling is that wherever the publisher wants to pimp my book, then it’s all good. Personally, I steer clear of the Romance section because of the presence of demeaning covers. And I didn’t realize there was a separate women’s fiction area at the book store, but I was aware that there was a separate African American fiction section at Borders that sent my history-needle reeling back to 1964. Again, just sayin’…(is it any wonder Borders is now history?).