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TechnographClass finds meaning in chick lit
Class looks at Bridget Jones's Diary as modern-day Pride and Prejudice
By Amy Fishman
Posted: 2/18/05 Section: Features
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Baron said she became interested in why authors chose Austen as a template to write current pieces of fiction. She also took interest in why women were writing novels that resembled earlier pieces about marriage and maternity, love, sex, romance and heterosexual relationships, when society is approaching a feminist era.
According to Baron, the genre has evolved and expanded. It now includes a middle-aged audience, as well as a teenage audience, and it focuses on even more issues, such as divorce and ethnicity.
She said that Allison Pearson's I Don't Know How She Does It (another chick lit course novel) addresses issues many women face today, including trying to balance being the perfect mom, relationships and work. There can be a feminist novel about a married woman with kids, Baron said. She, herself, is married with two kids.
"I think it really does address the issues women have from the house and the bedroom, as they transition to the office and the boardroom," Baron said.
Baron also said she was fascinated by what these authors were doing. She said that she found the modern pieces to be "terribly funny" but at the same time they address real issues that women are concerned with.
Emily Netter, sophomore in LAS, is currently enrolled in the chick lit course. Netter said she finds it interesting to see a serious, academic perspective to the chick lit stories. She described the course as being fun and an interesting study of women in general.
"It's a fun class and a lot of people open up in it and learn a lot about themselves," Netter said.
Baron said she teaches the course because women in this culture can identify with chick lit characters, and though chick lit is comical, it deals with serious, feminist issues.
Baron said the course is divided into three parts: issues about body image and weight; sex, dating and working women; and marriage and maternity. She said that she selected three novels for each part that were representative of the topics covered in class.
Britt Barbour, sophomore in LAS and another of Baron's students, said that while reading the novels of the course, she could relate to some of the characters. Barbour said she found that she was not alone in how she felt about women's issues. She also said that the character she could relate to the most was Bridget Jones, as she was single and one of the younger characters from the course.
Brooke Potthast, sophomore in education, is currently taking Baron's chick lit course. Potthast said that during class discussions, students open up and share their feelings about women's images.
"It helped me to see that I wasn't the only one that has, at one time, had a negative self-image," Potthast said.
Baron also said that her students help her to see different aspects of the novels that she didn't notice and that they make connections to other chick lit novels and films.
"It's a learning experience for both of us," Baron said.
According to Baron, the genre has evolved and expanded. It now includes a middle-aged audience, as well as a teenage audience, and it focuses on even more issues, such as divorce and ethnicity.
She said that Allison Pearson's I Don't Know How She Does It (another chick lit course novel) addresses issues many women face today, including trying to balance being the perfect mom, relationships and work. There can be a feminist novel about a married woman with kids, Baron said. She, herself, is married with two kids.
"I think it really does address the issues women have from the house and the bedroom, as they transition to the office and the boardroom," Baron said.
Baron also said she was fascinated by what these authors were doing. She said that she found the modern pieces to be "terribly funny" but at the same time they address real issues that women are concerned with.
Emily Netter, sophomore in LAS, is currently enrolled in the chick lit course. Netter said she finds it interesting to see a serious, academic perspective to the chick lit stories. She described the course as being fun and an interesting study of women in general.
"It's a fun class and a lot of people open up in it and learn a lot about themselves," Netter said.
Baron said she teaches the course because women in this culture can identify with chick lit characters, and though chick lit is comical, it deals with serious, feminist issues.
Baron said the course is divided into three parts: issues about body image and weight; sex, dating and working women; and marriage and maternity. She said that she selected three novels for each part that were representative of the topics covered in class.
Britt Barbour, sophomore in LAS and another of Baron's students, said that while reading the novels of the course, she could relate to some of the characters. Barbour said she found that she was not alone in how she felt about women's issues. She also said that the character she could relate to the most was Bridget Jones, as she was single and one of the younger characters from the course.
Brooke Potthast, sophomore in education, is currently taking Baron's chick lit course. Potthast said that during class discussions, students open up and share their feelings about women's images.
"It helped me to see that I wasn't the only one that has, at one time, had a negative self-image," Potthast said.
Baron also said that her students help her to see different aspects of the novels that she didn't notice and that they make connections to other chick lit novels and films.
"It's a learning experience for both of us," Baron said.
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