Feels like nearly everybody knows chick-lit is a terrible term.
Many readers don't seem to like it much, most writers REALLY don't like it at all.
And I'm not talking about the content here, I'm just talking about the label. Why would you name a genre based on the supposed age and gender of its readers? Or is it named after the writers?
Either way, it's condescending, inaccurate, outdated, restrictive, patronising.
But here's the thing -- it's catchy. It broadly gets the idea across. It fits on the description tag on a real or virtual bookstore shelf.
And what are the alternatives out there? Women's commercial fiction? No better, just wordier. Rom-com? The book aren't necessarily primarily funny. Romance? Still not wide enough, and has its own identity issues.
But in another creative field there's a genre...
