Chick Lit and Boy Books

Joanna Trollope, the distinguished novelist, has posted a blog on the guardian.co.uk home page complaining about the characterization of serious women's literature as "chick lit". She lays this derisive nomenclature at the feet of the male literary establishment.

"When I was an editor," she writes, "my books written in the genre known for some reason as 'commercial women's fiction'. We – my colleagues and fellow publishers – loved these books and knew the truth, which is that books bought by women prop up the book trade, and that we should be proud both of the product itself and the diversion it gives hardworking people who want a good read. Now I've left, I'm looking at it from the other side – and what I see alarms me."

"Books – both fiction and non-fiction – reflecting women's lives, whether young or old, are labelled. Hence 'chick-lit': often a derogatory term used to mean books by young women drinking chardonnay and being silly about boys, without the thought that novels by women about women might accurately reflect their lives and thus have merit or, at the very least, relevance."

Ms, Trollope, you have every reason to be offended. But I wonder if you would deflect your ill will if you knew that commercial men's literature suffers the same treatment by the female staffs of many publishing houses. Science fiction, action adventure, thrillers, and biography and history appealing to male tastes are characterized as "boy books."

This term arose in the 1980s as a large, capable and influential cadre of female editors took charge of the mass market paperback industry. Their attitudes were feminist and, after decades of second class citizenship in editorial management they wielded their influence on every category of popular fiction. "Chick lit" was one of the terms coined at the time; "boy books" another. But they were not really terms of opprobrium. The editors I know and work with daily are quite good humored and comfortable with these terms.

Another reason for what appears to be dismissive categorization of popular literature is the BISAC (Book Industry Standards and Communications) system of codifying books by subject matter. The titles you see on the spines of paperbacks are governed by types of literature and are so designated to help bookstores place their titles in the most effective way possible. General women's fiction and romance tend to get stocked in a female oriented part of the store, whereas stuff like western fiction, military science fiction, and male action adventure go into the male part of the store.

So, I have to differ with you: it's not the male conspiracy that you say it is. It's just an age-old fact of life: Vive la difference.

Read Don't patronise popular fiction by women posted by Harriet Evans

Richard Curtis