A. INTRODUCTION
1. Definition of chick lit
Chick lit is a term used to denote genre fiction within women's fiction written for and marketed to young women, especially single, working women in their twenties and thirties.
Women’s Fiction: Women's fiction, also known as "Chick Lit," is sometimes considered a sub-genre of romance. It borrows some elements of romance, yet does not necessarily focus on the pursuit of one relationship or the happily ever after ending. Chick Lit tends to feature sophisticated, savvy women in their 20s and 30s, although characters can be older or younger. (Defining the Genres
By Jennifer Crispin© 2004,
Jennifer Crisp in
http://fmwriters.com/Visionback/Issue19/themedefine.htm )
The characters might bounce from man to man in search of the perfect relationship, or they might focus more on their friends and jobs. They are generally looking for a perfect something, whether it’s a perfect man, a perfect figure, a perfect job, or a perfect pair of shoes.
2. Sex and the City
a. Novel
Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell (Grand Central Publishing, 1997)
Have there ever been four more memorable female friends? Sometimes people forget that Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte started as characters in a book. The novel sex and the city picture the brand minded glamour and also sexual relationship. It tells about the Bachelor and Spinsters and their life style.
b. Movie
Sex and the City took place in Manhattan in 2008. It is a spin off from the television show that ran for six seasons. At the very beginning of the movie, Carrie, the main character, starts out expressing that the only reason young women move to New York City is to shop for the labels and to fall in love. This foreshadows the entire film because it is about the designer clothing the characters wear and the different relationship problems each character has. After the series end, four years past, and the characters lives have all changed. Carrie Bradshaw, the main character, is dating her on and off again boyfriend Jonathan Big. They buy an apartment together and get engaged. The story consists of their up-and-down relationship. He gets cold feet the day of the wedding and her three best friends, Charlotte York, Miranda Hobbes, and Samantha Jones, all go with her to Mexico, on the trip that was intended to be her and “Mr. Big’s” honeymoon. The rest of the movie shows how she deals with the pain of heartbreak and how her friends are there to help her
c. TV Series
The TV series differ from the movie and the novel. The novel gives imagination through the strong word. The movie is designed to be watch in the shorter time than the TV series. And TV series is picturing slower than the movie. The plot is designed to be enjoyed in different style. Sex and the City is an American cable television series. The original run of the show was broadcast on HBO from 1998 until 2004, for a total of six seasons. ( www.answer.com )
B. DISCUSSION
Chick lit at actually derived from Chick American slang term for young woman and lit is short for literature. The phrase chick lit is analogous to the term chick flick. The definition of chick lit varies widely and tinged with shades of backlash. Carole Desanti, the United States editor for Helen Fielding (Bridget Jones Diary) and Melissa Banks (The girls’ Guide to Hunting and fishing) notes:
Initially women writers were trying to find a way to write about their lived experience that was vibrant and authentic and creative and artful. Now there is a range definitions for chick lit, but the one we seem to be settling in with is the one that trivialize and dismisses it (Danford, N. 2003, “is chick lit still chick?”, publisher weekly, vol.250, no.42. pp.5-20)
Ferris and Young state that to list potentially compelling themes in chick lit: identity, sexuality, friendship as family, and balancing work and relationship.
The term chick lit has versus namely lad lit or Dick lit means literature written by men, with the main character being male. It is classified under the chick lit because the tone is very similar to chick lit’s tone. The men in these books are often going through dating, work scenarios, love, family issues and more. Another term is "Mommy Lit" namely a spin off from Chick Lit the new genre of chick lit. As the name suggests, Mommy Lit focuses on women dealing with new motherhood. Chick Lit and Mommy Lit tend to be humorous and irreverent. They often focus on ordinary details of women’s lives in a way that other woman-focused genres might not. These are not yet official genres, but there are certain publishing houses that have imprints specifically for publishing Chick Lit and Mommy Lit.
The Kinds of Chick lit
There are two kinds of chick lit:
There's the straight-up kind, offered with no pretense or apology, identifiable by the high-heeled shoe, martini glass or gown on its cover, and then there's lit chick lit, which attempts to straddle the conventions of chick lit and the ambitions of literary fiction.
To put it another way, lit chick lit dresses the bones of chick lit in a less conventional dress than the polka-dotted gown pictured on the cover of Katie Crouch's first novel, "Girls in Trucks."
The Formula of Chick lit
Is there a Chick Lit formula, or certain “must haves”?
I think some of the earlier books in the Chick Lit genre could have been called formulaic, but now the genre has evolved and broadened to encompass a wide range of complex issues. I think the problem with Chick Lit - if it has one - is that because all the books tend to be packaged and marketed in the same sort of way, it’s very hard to tell the quality of the contents from the covers. It all tends to look the same, but in the genre there is everything from young women struggling with career and boyfriend problems to more mature women coping with complex relationship and lifestyle issues. ‘Must haves’ for me include a strong, feisty heroine who solves her own problems while keeping a dozen balls in the air - normal, everyday stuff! It helps if there’s a drop-dead gorgeous hero somewhere in there too… : )
There's some variation in the chick lit world, of course, but the formula is as follows: Girl is guy-less; girl is miserable because she's guy-less; girl meets a seemingly unattainable guy (let's call him Prince Charming) whom the reader realizes is wonderful, but whom our heroine thinks is a prideful jerk; girl meets a second guy (let's call him Cad) whom she thinks is wonderful, but whom the reader realizes is a prideful jerk; girl gets romantically involved with Cad; Cad kicks girl to the curb; girl is rescued by Prince Charming. They live happily ever after.
Chick Lit Characters
Every stereotypical chick lit protagonist needs a supportive best friend. After all, "female friendship" is supposed to one of the themes in chick lit-- and in good chick lit, the author introduces interesting female friends. However, in stereotypical chick lit, there's no need to create a BFF who's any different from anyone else's. To be truly stereotypical, the supportive best friend must do all of the following:
Love shoe shopping with the protagonist.
Love eating ice cream with the protagonist. (Cosmos are optional.)
Console the protagonist about breakups.
Console the protagonist about her overbearing mother
Offer the protagonist wise advice about dating, including the fact that she really ought to be dating that nice guy in the office she keeps ignoring
The Overbearing Mother
The Guy She Ought to Fall in Love With
Why Sex and the city regarded as chick lit?
Chick Lit is huge right now — one of the fastest -growing genres in publishing today. Why are women crying out for these stories now, more than ever before? What are some of the current market trends?
Actually, Chick Lit is melding back into women’s fiction right now. Women are the largest portion of readers in the market, and they’re constant consumers. Right now, women are looking for more serious subjects, veering away from the traditional Chick Lit motifs like Sex In The City
How popular is sex and the city
Sex and the city is the third top ten chick lit in Penny Zang
Apr 19, 2008
Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell
(Grand Central Publishing, 1997)
Have there ever been four more memorable female friends? Sometimes people forget that Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte started as characters in a book. You can thank Bushnell for all the future books about shopaholics with witty friends who also live in the city.
ISBN-13: 978-0446673549
(Http: \chik lit\Top Ten Chick Lit Novels A Beginner’s Guide to the Sub-genre of Women’s Fiction and Romance.mht)
Sex and the City is a collection of essays by Candace Bushnell based on her and her friends' lifestyles.[citation needed] It was first published in 1997, and re-published in 2001, 2006, and in 2008 as 10th anniversary movie tie-in edition.
( www. Wikipedia.org )
Sex and the city sold out
SUNDAY 9:00 a.m. (Pacific): Warner Bros. has told me this morning that Sex and the City scored an estimated $17.7 million on Saturday, and they are calling for $55.7 million for opening weekend
Kristin Davis' 'Sex and the City' Date Sold for 52,100 U.S. Dollar
March 26, 2008 03:47:38 GMT
A date with Kristin Davis to the "Sex and the City" movie premiere in New York City in May 2008 has been sold for a staggering $US52,100.
Sex and the City: The Movie was released nationwide May 30, 2008 and, as of December 24, 2008, has made $413,129,126 worldwide.
The Sex and the City: The Movie DVD was released on September 23, 2008.
(www.answer.com)
Box office performance
The film has experienced commercial success. Opening in 3,285 theaters, the film made $26.93 million in the US and Canada on its first day. The three-day opening weekend total was $57,038,404, aggregating $17,363 per theater. The film recorded the biggest opening ever for an R-rated comedy and for a romantic comedy,[19] and also for a film starring a woman.[20] As of October, 2008, the film has grossed $152,619,616 at the US and Canadian box office, and $256,274,667 in other markets, bringing the worldwide total gross revenue to $408,921,925. (www.answer.com)
The List of sex and the city episodes
Main article: List of Sex and the City episodes
Season Ep # First Airdate Last Airdate
Season 1
12 June 6, 1998 August 23, 1998
Season 2
18 June 6, 1999 October 3, 1999
Season 3
18 June 4, 2000 October 15, 2000
Season 4
18 June 3, 2001 February 10, 2002
Season 5
8 July 21, 2002 September 8, 2002
Season 6
20 June 22, 2003 February 22, 2004
What makes sex and the city interesting?
There are some comment from the readers about sex and the city. These comment show that sex and the city is popular chick lit.
" Fascinating... hilarious... Welcome to the cruel planet that is Manhattan. " — Los Angeles Times
" Sly... Sharp... Sex and the City succeeds. " — People
A woman has many things to worry about, being too successful, too beautiful, too smart, too rich, too accomplished...some guys may find the stupid, 20th C girls charming, but in the book, we can find four smart, beautiful, interesting, successful and confident women showing their life to us--a life about men, sex, and the city. --- lolita260 from Canton,China
“It has the ring of truth….. Sump up the fascinate Manhattan mind-set with considerable fair” – Jonathan Yardley, Washington post book world
“ A breath of fresh air… a forceful display of the merits of the journalistic approach to sexual relations … a realism that rivals Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities” __ Wall street Journal
“ Fun Bushnell is a skilled eaves dropper and a bright stylist revealing to us the soft underbelly of high society” ___ Newsday
“ Fascinating and hunting… an oddly touching collection.”___ Kirkus
Addictive….. a collection of witty, socially relevant vignetess” __ Elle
“ irrestible, hilarious, and horrific, stylishly written.”__ Bret Easton Ellis
“ Hilarious…. Entertaining…. Bushnell is a deft writer, possessing a sly sense of humor and sharp insight into human behavior” ____ People
C. CONCLUSION
Sex and the city is one of the popular chick lit. It sold out not only in America but also in Indonesia as well.
Its popularity makes the producer made into movie and also TV series as well.
In short chick lit can be a starting point for discussion of why women’s writing matters, the evolution of women writing, and the importance of women perspective in fiction.
1. Definition of chick lit
Chick lit is a term used to denote genre fiction within women's fiction written for and marketed to young women, especially single, working women in their twenties and thirties.
Women’s Fiction: Women's fiction, also known as "Chick Lit," is sometimes considered a sub-genre of romance. It borrows some elements of romance, yet does not necessarily focus on the pursuit of one relationship or the happily ever after ending. Chick Lit tends to feature sophisticated, savvy women in their 20s and 30s, although characters can be older or younger. (Defining the Genres
By Jennifer Crispin© 2004,
Jennifer Crisp in
http://fmwriters.com/Visionback/Issue19/themedefine.htm )
The characters might bounce from man to man in search of the perfect relationship, or they might focus more on their friends and jobs. They are generally looking for a perfect something, whether it’s a perfect man, a perfect figure, a perfect job, or a perfect pair of shoes.
2. Sex and the City
a. Novel
Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell (Grand Central Publishing, 1997)
Have there ever been four more memorable female friends? Sometimes people forget that Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte started as characters in a book. The novel sex and the city picture the brand minded glamour and also sexual relationship. It tells about the Bachelor and Spinsters and their life style.
b. Movie
Sex and the City took place in Manhattan in 2008. It is a spin off from the television show that ran for six seasons. At the very beginning of the movie, Carrie, the main character, starts out expressing that the only reason young women move to New York City is to shop for the labels and to fall in love. This foreshadows the entire film because it is about the designer clothing the characters wear and the different relationship problems each character has. After the series end, four years past, and the characters lives have all changed. Carrie Bradshaw, the main character, is dating her on and off again boyfriend Jonathan Big. They buy an apartment together and get engaged. The story consists of their up-and-down relationship. He gets cold feet the day of the wedding and her three best friends, Charlotte York, Miranda Hobbes, and Samantha Jones, all go with her to Mexico, on the trip that was intended to be her and “Mr. Big’s” honeymoon. The rest of the movie shows how she deals with the pain of heartbreak and how her friends are there to help her
c. TV Series
The TV series differ from the movie and the novel. The novel gives imagination through the strong word. The movie is designed to be watch in the shorter time than the TV series. And TV series is picturing slower than the movie. The plot is designed to be enjoyed in different style. Sex and the City is an American cable television series. The original run of the show was broadcast on HBO from 1998 until 2004, for a total of six seasons. ( www.answer.com )
B. DISCUSSION
Chick lit at actually derived from Chick American slang term for young woman and lit is short for literature. The phrase chick lit is analogous to the term chick flick. The definition of chick lit varies widely and tinged with shades of backlash. Carole Desanti, the United States editor for Helen Fielding (Bridget Jones Diary) and Melissa Banks (The girls’ Guide to Hunting and fishing) notes:
Initially women writers were trying to find a way to write about their lived experience that was vibrant and authentic and creative and artful. Now there is a range definitions for chick lit, but the one we seem to be settling in with is the one that trivialize and dismisses it (Danford, N. 2003, “is chick lit still chick?”, publisher weekly, vol.250, no.42. pp.5-20)
Ferris and Young state that to list potentially compelling themes in chick lit: identity, sexuality, friendship as family, and balancing work and relationship.
The term chick lit has versus namely lad lit or Dick lit means literature written by men, with the main character being male. It is classified under the chick lit because the tone is very similar to chick lit’s tone. The men in these books are often going through dating, work scenarios, love, family issues and more. Another term is "Mommy Lit" namely a spin off from Chick Lit the new genre of chick lit. As the name suggests, Mommy Lit focuses on women dealing with new motherhood. Chick Lit and Mommy Lit tend to be humorous and irreverent. They often focus on ordinary details of women’s lives in a way that other woman-focused genres might not. These are not yet official genres, but there are certain publishing houses that have imprints specifically for publishing Chick Lit and Mommy Lit.
The Kinds of Chick lit
There are two kinds of chick lit:
There's the straight-up kind, offered with no pretense or apology, identifiable by the high-heeled shoe, martini glass or gown on its cover, and then there's lit chick lit, which attempts to straddle the conventions of chick lit and the ambitions of literary fiction.
To put it another way, lit chick lit dresses the bones of chick lit in a less conventional dress than the polka-dotted gown pictured on the cover of Katie Crouch's first novel, "Girls in Trucks."
The Formula of Chick lit
Is there a Chick Lit formula, or certain “must haves”?
I think some of the earlier books in the Chick Lit genre could have been called formulaic, but now the genre has evolved and broadened to encompass a wide range of complex issues. I think the problem with Chick Lit - if it has one - is that because all the books tend to be packaged and marketed in the same sort of way, it’s very hard to tell the quality of the contents from the covers. It all tends to look the same, but in the genre there is everything from young women struggling with career and boyfriend problems to more mature women coping with complex relationship and lifestyle issues. ‘Must haves’ for me include a strong, feisty heroine who solves her own problems while keeping a dozen balls in the air - normal, everyday stuff! It helps if there’s a drop-dead gorgeous hero somewhere in there too… : )
There's some variation in the chick lit world, of course, but the formula is as follows: Girl is guy-less; girl is miserable because she's guy-less; girl meets a seemingly unattainable guy (let's call him Prince Charming) whom the reader realizes is wonderful, but whom our heroine thinks is a prideful jerk; girl meets a second guy (let's call him Cad) whom she thinks is wonderful, but whom the reader realizes is a prideful jerk; girl gets romantically involved with Cad; Cad kicks girl to the curb; girl is rescued by Prince Charming. They live happily ever after.
Chick Lit Characters
Every stereotypical chick lit protagonist needs a supportive best friend. After all, "female friendship" is supposed to one of the themes in chick lit-- and in good chick lit, the author introduces interesting female friends. However, in stereotypical chick lit, there's no need to create a BFF who's any different from anyone else's. To be truly stereotypical, the supportive best friend must do all of the following:
Love shoe shopping with the protagonist.
Love eating ice cream with the protagonist. (Cosmos are optional.)
Console the protagonist about breakups.
Console the protagonist about her overbearing mother
Offer the protagonist wise advice about dating, including the fact that she really ought to be dating that nice guy in the office she keeps ignoring
The Overbearing Mother
The Guy She Ought to Fall in Love With
Why Sex and the city regarded as chick lit?
Chick Lit is huge right now — one of the fastest -growing genres in publishing today. Why are women crying out for these stories now, more than ever before? What are some of the current market trends?
Actually, Chick Lit is melding back into women’s fiction right now. Women are the largest portion of readers in the market, and they’re constant consumers. Right now, women are looking for more serious subjects, veering away from the traditional Chick Lit motifs like Sex In The City
How popular is sex and the city
Sex and the city is the third top ten chick lit in Penny Zang
Apr 19, 2008
Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell
(Grand Central Publishing, 1997)
Have there ever been four more memorable female friends? Sometimes people forget that Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte started as characters in a book. You can thank Bushnell for all the future books about shopaholics with witty friends who also live in the city.
ISBN-13: 978-0446673549
(Http: \chik lit\Top Ten Chick Lit Novels A Beginner’s Guide to the Sub-genre of Women’s Fiction and Romance.mht)
Sex and the City is a collection of essays by Candace Bushnell based on her and her friends' lifestyles.[citation needed] It was first published in 1997, and re-published in 2001, 2006, and in 2008 as 10th anniversary movie tie-in edition.
( www. Wikipedia.org )
Sex and the city sold out
SUNDAY 9:00 a.m. (Pacific): Warner Bros. has told me this morning that Sex and the City scored an estimated $17.7 million on Saturday, and they are calling for $55.7 million for opening weekend
Kristin Davis' 'Sex and the City' Date Sold for 52,100 U.S. Dollar
March 26, 2008 03:47:38 GMT
A date with Kristin Davis to the "Sex and the City" movie premiere in New York City in May 2008 has been sold for a staggering $US52,100.
Sex and the City: The Movie was released nationwide May 30, 2008 and, as of December 24, 2008, has made $413,129,126 worldwide.
The Sex and the City: The Movie DVD was released on September 23, 2008.
(www.answer.com)
Box office performance
The film has experienced commercial success. Opening in 3,285 theaters, the film made $26.93 million in the US and Canada on its first day. The three-day opening weekend total was $57,038,404, aggregating $17,363 per theater. The film recorded the biggest opening ever for an R-rated comedy and for a romantic comedy,[19] and also for a film starring a woman.[20] As of October, 2008, the film has grossed $152,619,616 at the US and Canadian box office, and $256,274,667 in other markets, bringing the worldwide total gross revenue to $408,921,925. (www.answer.com)
The List of sex and the city episodes
Main article: List of Sex and the City episodes
Season Ep # First Airdate Last Airdate
Season 1
12 June 6, 1998 August 23, 1998
Season 2
18 June 6, 1999 October 3, 1999
Season 3
18 June 4, 2000 October 15, 2000
Season 4
18 June 3, 2001 February 10, 2002
Season 5
8 July 21, 2002 September 8, 2002
Season 6
20 June 22, 2003 February 22, 2004
What makes sex and the city interesting?
There are some comment from the readers about sex and the city. These comment show that sex and the city is popular chick lit.
" Fascinating... hilarious... Welcome to the cruel planet that is Manhattan. " — Los Angeles Times
" Sly... Sharp... Sex and the City succeeds. " — People
A woman has many things to worry about, being too successful, too beautiful, too smart, too rich, too accomplished...some guys may find the stupid, 20th C girls charming, but in the book, we can find four smart, beautiful, interesting, successful and confident women showing their life to us--a life about men, sex, and the city. --- lolita260 from Canton,China
“It has the ring of truth….. Sump up the fascinate Manhattan mind-set with considerable fair” – Jonathan Yardley, Washington post book world
“ A breath of fresh air… a forceful display of the merits of the journalistic approach to sexual relations … a realism that rivals Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities” __ Wall street Journal
“ Fun Bushnell is a skilled eaves dropper and a bright stylist revealing to us the soft underbelly of high society” ___ Newsday
“ Fascinating and hunting… an oddly touching collection.”___ Kirkus
Addictive….. a collection of witty, socially relevant vignetess” __ Elle
“ irrestible, hilarious, and horrific, stylishly written.”__ Bret Easton Ellis
“ Hilarious…. Entertaining…. Bushnell is a deft writer, possessing a sly sense of humor and sharp insight into human behavior” ____ People
C. CONCLUSION
Sex and the city is one of the popular chick lit. It sold out not only in America but also in Indonesia as well.
Its popularity makes the producer made into movie and also TV series as well.
In short chick lit can be a starting point for discussion of why women’s writing matters, the evolution of women writing, and the importance of women perspective in fiction.
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