International Journal of
English and Literature

  • Abbreviation: Int. J. English Lit.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 2141-2626
  • DOI: 10.5897/IJEL
  • Start Year: 2010
  • Published Articles: 278

Full Length Research Paper

Dare you rocking it: Contemporary women and the trap of the glass ceiling in chick lit

Nour Elhoda A. E. Sabra
  • Nour Elhoda A. E. Sabra
  • Department of English, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Malaya, Malaysia
  • Google Scholar


  •  Received: 10 July 2016
  •  Accepted: 24 August 2016
  •  Published: 31 October 2016

Abstract

This paper argues that multiple truths can coexist, and beyond the romance and the pink flowery cover, Chick lit examines new areas in the modern women’s lives that feminists have not touched yet such as the impact of female in power on the advancement of female subordinate’s employees, and the reason that keeps contemporary women away from the glass ceiling. It demonstrates how Chick lit authors by bringing up these topics are allowing women’s movement to communicate with contemporary women. In doing so, the paper is going to do two related arguments: it will show, through the demonstration of Weisberger’s novels The Devil Wears Prada, Everyone Worth knowing and Revenge Wears Prada, how Chick lit has presented and discussed the systematic nature of gender discrimination and inequality that modern women face in the workplace, and post-feminist ideology as a tool to justify contemporary society anti-women hegemony. The significance of this paper comes from its attempt to open up a dialogue between Chick lit and women’s movement in order to cover some of the gaps in feminist analyses of Chick lit.

Key words: Chick lit, feminism, women’s management, contemporary literature, the glass ceiling.