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Girls Have “Chick-Lit” Novels, But What Do Boys Have?
It’s funny; I came across an article today that made me think about something I have never really thought about, but probably should have. Let me ask you, have you thought about why boys/men don’t have “man lit” novels but we have “chick lit” novels? And I’m not talking about John Grisham or James Patterson novels who are open for anyone to read. Sure, lots of guys like them, but so do some women! Women that read these novels by Grisham, Patterson, and even Stephen King etc. are not subjected to being labeled any less of a woman. But a man reading a “chick lit” novel, that’s a whole other story.
I bet if I looked hard enough I could probably find a series of “boy books”, or maybe better yet, find a man to attempt to write them! But why aren’t they easily accessible. There are lots of stories directed at men but the difference is they can also be read by women, not like a “chick lit” novel. I know as a girl, I could easily find hundreds of “girly” books in minutes…but “man” books, I’m not so sure.
I would assume that a “man lit” novel, as I have cleverly named this new genre, would involve nonstop action, the occasional illustration, topics about gross food and music. Maybe they don’t exist because conventional wisdom states that boys don’t like to read a lot , especially romance, primarily what chick lit novels are based on. But even so, why not just have a book about characters in love with sports instead of a girl, falling for a car instead of falling head over heels for his girlfriend etc.
I guess the question is would boys find these topics appealing to read? I do find it troubling though to even suggest we reinforce stereotypes in these books, but that’s exactly what I find chick lit novels doing! They are stories that most women could probably relate to. So what books do men relate to? I mean by calling the genre “chick lit” we are already cutting off boys from reading any of these types of books. But girls aren’t really cut off from anything or at least nothing I can think of.
So, I ask you audio book fans, what would you call a genre strictly created for boys/men? Do you think they exist already in the same fashion as a chick lit novel?
