chick books
THE BOOKWORM
By Mar-Vic Cagurangan
‘Chick books’ that are chic
IF there’s such a thing as “chick flicks,” there’s also a thing that I would call “chick books.” And when I say “chick books,” I definitely don’t refer to angry feminist authors like Naomi Wolf (The Beauty Myth), who hates the male population; or feminist apologists like Susan Faludi (Backlash), who believes that feminism is still very chic.
Nope, none of them. I’m referring to books by women who talk about women without having to hate men. On top of my favorite books that fall in this category are Bitch by Elizabeth Wurtzel, When The Messenger Is Hot by Elizabeth Crane, and Kiss My Tiara by Susan Jane Gilman. These are harmless works. They’re merely for enjoyment and laughs and not a catalyst for further debate on women.
In Bitch, Wurtzel praises “difficult” women — the “bad” and the “mad” ones who live full lives, as opposed to the boring nice girls personifying the love martyrs and dutiful housewives in prime time soap operas.
Bitch is like a catalog of the mythically complicated women in history. Her take on the biblical tale of Samson and Delilah particularly offers an explanation for our reaction to the alluringly repulsive femme fatale.
Her analysis of Sylvia Plath would make a depressed woman think that being mad is part of being creative. They say that behind every man’s success is a woman, Wurtzel says that behind every creative woman is madness.
She also reviews the idiosyncrasies of Amy Fisher, Nicole Brown, Hillary Clinton, Madonna, Marilyn Monroe, and Princess Diana among others. She forgot Imelda Marcos though.
But I have to warn you that Bitch is a thick book that can be a drag occasionally, but every now and then, she introduces a startling insight about how women manipulate situations to control their lives. Just the same, she makes an admission of what most single women would deny. Dismissing the happily single, she writes that “it would be easier to eliminate racism or end poverty or cure illiteracy or dethrone Fidel Castro than it would to make girls stop wanting to be brides.”
Crane’s When The Messenger Is Hot, is a collection of funny short stories—most of which are about smart women with a series of failed dates.
After reading the stories, you’d ask: “Why do women of culture and intelligence always fail in finding the right men?” And the smart women would realize that they always end up with men dull in mind and poor in spirit. Most women-writers come up with books complaining about this pathetic reality. But unlike most books of the same genre, When The Messenger Is Hot will leave you laughing.
Women who go through the same experiences (as in Crane’s characters), can look back, laugh and say “My love life is an award winning sitcom” like Sex and the City. Dating can always give girls something entertaining to tell their friends when they meet for coffee. For writers, real-life dating can offer good comedic material. This is fun read.
Gilman’s Kiss My Tiara is a collection of feminist essays, but I promise that they are fun to read. It’s not an angry book. It’s more of a satire on women.
Minus Gilman’s attempt to deconstruct the English language by substituting regular words with her "gender sensitive" blah-blah, Kiss My Tiara is a winner. It could serve as a bible for women who want to understand themselves, men, and relationship.
The combined wits and wisdom of Gilman and her very cool granny could help unhappy women appreciate themselves. If you are bothered by your annoying relatives, just imagine them as sitcom characters and everything will be alright.
