Do We Still Need “Women’s Fiction” as a Category?
As Women’s History Month continues, I had to think long and hard about what I wanted to discuss. I have so many think pieces in my head waiting to be let out, but I wanted to make sure I chose something especially fitting for the month.
I walked into a bookstore the other day, I’m pretty sure it was a Foyles, and noticed a section devoted to “women’s fiction.” I gravitated towards it automatically, because, whether intentionally or not, most of what I read and enjoy is written by women, about women.
It does make you think, though: there is no equivalent category or shelf labelled “men’s fiction.” It provided a lot of food for thought, and I walked away wondering whether the label is a form of helpful visibility or simply an outdated, arguably misogynistic marketing category.
So today, I want to explore what “women’s fiction” really means, what role the label plays in the industry today, and to what extent it serves—or hinders—both readers and writers.
What Is “Women’s Fiction”?
Women’s fiction is an umbrella term for women-centred books that focus on women’s life experience that are marketed to female readers, and includes many mainstream novels or women’s rights books. It is distinct from women’s writing, which refers to literature written by (rather than promoted to) women. It is important to note that there is no comparable label in English for works of fiction that are marketed to men (we shall come back to this).
The Romance Writers of America organisation defines women’s fiction as
“a commercial novel about a woman on the brink of life change and personal growth. Her journey details emotional reflection and action that transform her and her relationships with others.
Women’s fiction is a broad category used to encompass both contemporary and historical stories, exploring women’s experiences—from motherhood, identity, and relationships to ambition, grief, and generational trauma, across different cultures, countries, and traditions.
It is important to clarify that women’s fiction is not the same as romance; romance is a separate genre in and of itself, yet the two are often used interchangeably for several reasons.
Women’s fiction is also distinguishable from literary fiction, which I have discussed on this blog before. Literary fiction focuses on high-quality writing, thematic depth, and character study, often prioritising prose over plot. Women’s fiction, by contrast, is a market-driven genre centring on a female protagonist’s personal, emotional journey and self-discovery. That said, some works of women’s fiction can qualify as literary fiction, just as some romance novels—or even other forms of genre fiction—can also be considered women’s fiction.
In this sense, women’s fiction functions as something of a catch-all term, used to include anything written for and marketed towards women.
Where the Category Came From
For the most part, women’s fiction is largely a publishing and marketing construct. Historically and today, women readers make up the vast majority of the book market, across all genres and demographics. As a result, publishers created the category as a way to target women directly. The downstream effects of this meant bookshops could organise themselves in a way that highlighted these books, publishers could market stories to specific audiences, and those audiences could more easily find the stories they were looking for.
What this inadvertently meant, however, was that these stories became cordoned off—even when they tackled universal themes that weren’t specific to women, or themes that shouldn’t be read by women alone.
As we know, and as I have discussed here before, things made for women—and largely enjoyed by us—are often diminished in their perceived seriousness. Whether intentional or not, that became the result of the women’s fiction label. Despite the strong and often weighty themes these books explored, anything by or for women was too often considered fun, light, or trivial—even when they were anything but.
The Problem
A Gendered and Reductive Label
The primary issue at hand is that “women’s fiction” is an extremely gendered and reductive label—one that places all fiction with women at the helm into a single category. This leads to a number of problems. As I mentioned, there is no equivalent label for “men’s fiction.” In fact, there is no such thing as men’s fiction at all. There is simply women’s fiction, and everything else. This means that work centring women—even work of the same quality and prestige as literary fiction—is often overlooked or sidelined.
There are so many stories out there—beautiful, well-written stories that speak so powerfully to life, emotions, and humanity—that a lot of men simply will not read, simply because they are considered “women’s fiction” and therefore “for women.” When we all know this is simply not the case.
The lives and stories of women deserve to be told and enjoyed by everyone, not just their counterparts. Yet a label like this boxes women into a category, and keeps others from stepping outside it. The label also comes with the assumption that a story is a romance, which the label aims to avoid, but unfortunately can’t. Which inevitably leads to further discrimination, as we all know how often romance is delegitimised.
The Perception of Inferior Quality
This categorisation feeds into a broader perception of inferior quality. The things women do and enjoy are so often considered less valuable, rarely given the prestige they deserve. If something is labelled as “for women,” the masses—including both men and the women who suffer from internalised misogyny—will also deem it inferior. Books about women are frequently seen as emotionally lightweight, unnecessarily sentimental, and less serious than stories centred on men. We know this is not the case, but social perception plays a very strong role in how we distinguish things, whether we intend to or not.
This persists even though so much of women’s fiction deals with profoundly serious and complex, and diverse social issues: trauma, sexism, war, violence, and the many challenges women across the world face daily. It is almost insulting to reduce these very real life experiences to simply “women’s fiction”—not because there is no power or strength in womanhood, but because of the implications of the label, rather than the reality of the experience.
As Liz Kay put it in her 2016 Literary Hub article, “What Do We Mean When We Say Women’s Fiction“:
There’s something about the way these books are marketed that tells us the pages inside are meant to be easily consumed, that they might be smartly written, but the reader herself will not be required to think. There’s something vaguely misogynistic…no, scratch that, there’s something overtly misogynistic about a whole category of books whose central promise is to not shake up the world as the reader already sees it.
A Question of Authorship
I recently read a post similar to the one I am writing now, which discussed stories that centre female characters but are written by men. It noted how these works are often categorised as literary fiction and ultimately given the regard they deserve. However, if that same story were written by a woman, it would likely be labelled “chick lit”—a now mostly retired, but largely insulting, term. And if the woman is considered fortunate enough to be of higher writing quality, she is deemed to write “women’s fiction.”
Why Some Readers and Authors Still Value It
Now, one cannot discuss such a topic without also presenting why people value the label. Outside of the fact that women’s fiction is wholly a marketing and publishing construct, one could argue that it improves visibility and highlights these stories in a way that ensures they are not ignored or overlooked.
One also cannot discount the sense of community created around these stories—and among those in search of them. As a woman, I definitely gravitate towards and want to read stories about women and women’s experiences. So a label like this aids in discoverability, helping readers find the kind of character depth and emotional resonance they may be looking for and identifying with.
On the representation point, however, I, for example, am a Black woman, and that is more where my representation aligns. A “women’s fiction” label alone might not actually serve me, and may not be sufficient. There is a whole other conversation to be had about the lack of intersectionality within the category, but I am getting a bit carried away. Let me focus on the arguments for.
Lastly, the only real pro for me about the women’s fiction label—and this will always be the case—is the celebration of women’s voices in telling their own stories. The category can often function as a spotlight rather than a restriction. There are so many authors and stories out there that might never have been found if not for a label that highlighted them. In a sea of books to wade through, the label directs us—and as a result, towards stories we did not even know we were looking for.
The Publishing Landscape Is Changing
One thing I will say, which I noticed in my research, is that the landscape is changing. A lot of the posts on this topic were from quite a few years ago now, and much has shifted since then. Many books that were originally labelled as women’s fiction have since been further categorised and are now marketed as literary, contemporary, historical, speculative, among others. This shift suggests that stories about women are no longer being recognised as niche experiences, but rather as universal ones—and these stories are increasingly being categorised according to their literary structure, rather than simply the gender at the helm.
The rise of social media, book blogs, and online reader communities has also shaped discovery in ways that transcend traditional categories. Readers now find stories through recommendation, community, and conversation, often bypassing the shelf label altogether.
However, “women’s fiction” absolutely remains a thriving category within the publishing industry. And despite now being considered outdated by some, it continues to function as a robust commercial genre—often comprising around 40% of adult popular fiction sold in the US.
So… Do We Still Need the Category?
I’m not sure, but women make up the larger percentage of readers, and we read across almost all genres—just some slightly less than others. So the way I see it, these books would be read by women regardless of whether they are labelled as such or not.
On one hand, the literary landscape, while now largely consumed by women, was male-dominated until relatively recent times. There was a need to highlight the work of women in spaces where they had historically been excluded. Yet even today, a majority of literary awards are still disproportionately won by men, despite women being overrepresented in the industry. So there is always something to be said about visibility and the importance of reducing the gender gap.
However, I don’t think this is something that is necessarily solved by the “women’s fiction” label. In fact, the label may hinder that very visibility. Stories labelled as women’s fiction are less likely to be considered prestigious and are therefore more likely to be excluded, especially when they are written by women.
Perhaps the real goal is not to eliminate the category, but to broaden our perceptions of these stories. Stories about women are not a niche or a neatly defined category. They are stories about people navigating life, identity, and relationships in the way we all do—gender aside. In all honesty, we do still need to ask ourselves why stories about half the population still need their own shelf.
Thank you so much for reading!
Signed,
