Specifically, in chick lit.
I freely admit to enjoying a chick lit book now and again. I think it’s a completely legitimate genre which will have it’s fans and detractors, as all genres do. I will gladly pick one up when I need something light and fluffy that I know will have a happy ending (which is pretty often — it balances the ecclectic non-fiction.) But I’ve really started to get cheesed off by the fact that the main female characters are almost always so goddamn stupid.
In particular, I just finished Talking to Addison and am now reading Amanda’s Wedding, both by Jenny Colgan. In both, the heroine (and I use the term loosely) is completely and utterly shite at her job, relationships, friendships, etc. I can’t actually think of a redeeming quality in either of them, and can’t figure out why they get the guy at the end of the novel.
I will admit to liking some of her male characters, which is why I went on to the second book after finishing the first one. Then again, I almost always identify more with male characters in books more than female characters. I’m sure this says more about me than about the writing style. In fact, in these two books, we have guys who are engineers, physicists, and computer programmers (and a couple of lawyers, but really. Lawyers. I’m sorry, are my prejudices showing again?) which probably explain why I identify with them. I may run a bookstore now, but I’ve contemplated all three careers in my life (and studied for two of them.)
So how about a chick lit book with a heroine who is an engineer? Or even just a smidgeon of common sense, if we can’t have book learning?
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