Avidly Reads Guilty Pleasures

Avidly Reads

by Arielle Zibrak

"My guilty pleasure wasn't just reading low-brow fiction or even female-authored fiction, it was being femme itself."

What is it about ribald romance novels, luxurious interior design, and frothy wedding dresses that often make women feel their desires come with a shadow of shame? In Avidly Reads Guilty Pleasures, Arielle Zibrak considers the specifically pleasurable forms of feminine guilt and desire stimulated by supposedly "lowbrow" aesthetic tendencies. She takes up the overwhelming preoccupation with the experience of being humiliated, dominated, or even abused that has pervaded the stories that make up women's culture--from eighteenth-century epistolary novels to popular twentieth-century teen magazine features to present-day romantic comedies.

In three chapters--"Rough Sex," "Expensive Sheets," and "Saying Yes to the Dress"--that mirror the plot structures of feminine fictions themselves, this book tells the story of the desires that only the guiltiest of pleasures evoke. Zibrak reexamines documents of femme culture long dismissed as "trash" to reveal the surprisingly cathartic experiences produced by tales of domination, privilege, and the material trappings of the heteropatriarchy.

Part of the Avidly Reads series, this slim book gives us a new way of looking at American culture. With the singular blend of personal reflection and cultural criticism featured in the series, Avidly Reads Guilty Pleasures reclaims women's experiences for themselves.

Genres: Nonfiction, Gender, Essays, Romance

176 pages, Paperback

First published May 4, 2021

Reviews

[Julie Ehlers · Rating 2 out of 5]

My feelings about so-called "guilty pleasures" are, I think, uncomplicated. Most of the time, the reason people feel guilty for liking the things that they like is because it's not considered cool to like those things. I don't have any time for that kind of guilt, and I think there's nothing more boring than worrying about what's considered cool and what isn't. But there's another kind of guilty pleasure: When you watch or read something that you know is actually bad for you, or bad for society as a whole. TV shows that perpetuate tired stereotypes, for example, or tabloid magazines that result in the actors and musicians we claim to admire being stalked by paparazzi 24/7. I can get as sucked in by these things as anyone, but I know I'll feel crappy afterward, so I tend to avoid them. Pretty simple distinction.

Arielle Zibrak feels differently. A good example may be one she cites: those columns in women's/teen girl's magazines where readers can write in to talk about their most humiliating experiences, often having to do with period mishaps and/or embarrassing themselves in front of their "crush." (Zibrak sees these columns as emblematic of the 1990s, but they've been around much longer than that.) I've always tended to think these columns were mildly harmful—basically teaching young women and girls that they're supposed to feel humiliated about normal human mishaps. Zibrak sees it differently. In her view, we're already well aware of all of these ways we can be humiliated in an unforgiving culture, and reading about other women/girls living through things we fear can be cathartic. Helpful, in other words, instead of harmful.

For me, this is a new way of looking at guilty pleasures, and between that and Zibrak's lively, smart writing, I was looking forward to a good reading experience. The first chapter, about romance novels (specifically those with dominant males), fit well with Zibrak's thesis: Given all the conflicting messages U.S. culture tends to give women about our sexuality, it—again—can be cathartic to see some of these conflicts play out within the confines of a story and come to some sort of resolution. With romance novels, Zibrak points out, the guilt can actually be part of the pleasure. This made perfect sense to me.

After that, unfortunately, things started to go downhill. The next chapter was about the guilty pleasure of "rich white people fictions"—i.e., movies where the (white) characters are clearly obscenely wealthy but it's just kind of treated as normal. The analysis of race and class issues in these films was interesting, but Zibrak's ultimate conclusions about why we enjoy these films as "guilty pleasures" were unconvincing. Ditto the next (and final chapter), about wedding movies, where Zibrak focuses a lot of her analysis on Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, which, uh, isn't a wedding movie.

I had other concerns. Zibrak has a strange focus on mostly older material. Why does the romance novel chapter focus on sentimental literature from the 19th century and romance novels from the 1970s instead of, say, Fifty Shades of Grey? Why does the section on rich white people fictions focus on Father of the Bride, of all things? I think this entire study would have been so much more relevant if it had centered on "guilty pleasures" of this particular moment. As it was, I had a strong feeling that most of this book was made up of recycled grad-school papers Zibrak had written years earlier.

My larger concern, though, was with the way Zibrak categorizes the guilty pleasures she discusses—romance novels, movies about rich whites, wedding movies and shows—as "femme." I no longer understand what "femme" even means these days (feel free to clue me in in the comments, but be nice—I did google it and didn't find anything useful), but deciding certain guilty pleasures are "femme" was too essentialist for my tastes. So if it's "femme" to like romance novels, what's it called if I, a cis female, prefer classics instead? Is that "butch"? Masculine? Or what? I find that whole thing exhausting. When can we just get rid of all that stuff and just be who we are? Soon, I hope!

Near the end of this short book, Zibrak refers to the way we process guilty pleasures as "deep-love/surface-hate." For some guilty pleasures, I wonder if the way we truly feel is precisely the opposite: "deep-hate/surface-love." This is the conflict I would have liked to see this book explore. I suppose I can't fault the book for not being exactly what I wanted, but what I got instead was a disappointment either way.

I received this advance review copy via NetGalley. Thank you to the publisher.

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this delightful short book (really an extended essay), Zibrak breaks down and reclaims the idea of the "guilty pleasure," paying particular attention to its link to the femme identity and experience (Zibrak is wonderfully inclusive in her writing about gender). I think anyone who's grown up feeling shamed (even quietly) for liking romcoms or romance novels or anything society labels "girly," will instantly relate to how Zibrak examines shame and pleasure, as well as the way those feelings are inextricably linked to femininity in our society. I'd call this a must-read for anyone living in a patriarchal society, especially if you've ever wondered why your friend likes (or why you yourself life) torrid bodice-rippers and other "trashy" entertainment. Zibrak's prose tends toward an academic tone, so it may take more effort to parse if you're not used to reading literary criticism, but it's a short read, and I promise it's worth it.

My thanks to NetGalley and NYU Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Azra Kasırga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. A wonderful read, a very easy five stars.
Disclaimer: I should probably stop using Goodreads as my little private bookish twitter but reading this was an "experience" and I have to tell about that so dear Goodreads friends, please bear with me.
Obviously not a very long read, it took me two sittings to finish this amazing book. In between those two sittings, I praised this work of literature to anyone and everyone I could think of: my mom, my best friend, my housemates, even a stranger who has never opened the cover of a novel in his entire life over 2 beers and 3 cocktails. I have been taking photos of some parts to further convince my best friend who would LOVE this!
About the shame, it is discouraging that our womanly existences are being crafted around that emotion. Well, as the audacious person I am, I believe female existence in its own natural state should not represent or contain embarrassment, so I can say that it was very ironic and such a fun(!) experience to have the worst, the most horrible period in the last five years right after reading the chapter on how getting your period was promoted as a matter of social disgrace. I seriously considered going to the ER not to faint.
The bed sheets, that was a very familiar staple of pop culture rich white cinema, as the writer also constantly references. The fact that I cried out of frustration last night trying to fit a very large duvet cover for my queen size bed, I have a beef with bed sheets nowadays. Dear future wife/husband, don't expect me to change the sheets on my own, it is literally impossible.
The last chapter and the coda, I absolutely loved. "I dream of a world wherein sexual dominance play is just play, wherein I can accept the gift of a ring or wear any dress I choose without the fear of becoming property."
*a big sigh* I used to dream of that same thing within the heterosexual realms. Personally, I see it as a utopia, a relationship between a man and a woman that is not shaped around power play. And I am so done with that. I don't know, if I ever miraculously fall in love with a man someday, I might change my views.
The amount of literary and cinematic, and even musical reference brought so much joy into my reading. I listened to "Torn" after such a long time because of the reference. Also "Unchained Melody" too. Being able to pick up most of the references also was very reassuring. I will forever preserve a copy of the bibliography pages.
And a very last note: Fine! I'll go watch Sex and the City. (yes I know, if there is anything to be ashamed of here, it is the fact that I have not watched it yet despite the immense bullying and recommendation by my best friend.)

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat more academic than I expected, with a deep dive into pop culture moments, films, books, and TV. I was most interested in the chapter on romance novels, though so much of it centred around older romances rather than current ones, which are still often considered in the realm of guilty pleasures. (I fundamentally disagreed with her conclusion that romance is essentially only escapism and doesn't serve other functions.) While the media used as examples in the book were fun and interesting and yes, could be called guilty pleasures, I felt that the idea of guilty pleasures itself was lost in favour of exploring other aspects of these cultural touchstones--the ideas were interesting, but off-topic.

Thanks to NetGalley and NYU Press for the ARC.

[Amrita · Rating 5 out of 5]

My thanks to Netgalley and NYU Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In her introduction to Avidly Reads Guilty Pleasures, Arielle Zibrak mentions a moment in her childhood when she stood in front of her 5th grade class to present a report on Nabokov's Lolita - the entire sexualized aspect having passed blithely over her, she understood it as "the story of an overprotective stepfather taking his stepdaughter on a very special vacation". And that was the point where Zibrak had me hook, line, and sinker because I too was once that child.

At once academic yet personal, lucid, hilarious, and steeped in pop culture, this look at the term "guilty pleasures", especially as it relates to the femme experience, is one of the best things I've read this year. Part of it, of course, is because I related deeply to the content and the ideas expressed here as it closely reflects concerns and thoughts that I have struggled with regarding women in literature, but I also enjoyed the felicity with which Zibrak was able to move between the personal and the political, the literary and the cultural.

Here's a book that will reward multiple rereads, in my opinion. 4.5 rounded up to 5.

[Janilyn Kocher · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was going to be about books. Instead it's a rambling, thrown together, jumbled essay on an array of other subjects. The introduction was long and rambling. The author does talk about books, but then she morphs into an analysis of tv shows and movies. I didn't agree with most of her assertions. I tend to read books and watch movies and shows for pleasure, not analyze them for every grievance against patriarchy. This book just seems slapped together for the sake of publishing something. Thanks to Edelweiss and NY University Press for the advance read.

[Liv | little joy club · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a delightful read about an often frustrating subject. For long I've disliked the expression "guilty pleasure" as a way to judge what kind of entertainment is credible or not - after all, who's to judge?! - and Arielle not only elaborates on the issue (much more eloquently than I ever could), but she does it showing how detrimental the use of the expression is in other areas as well as helping perpetuate values of misogyny, racism and sexism.

Deeming something a "guilty pleasure" is the patriarchy's way of diminishing, invalidating and removing credibility of women's stories, women's lives and works and Arielle not only proves it but she does it with wonderful humour and sarcasm.

Loved it!

[Chrissy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An academic, cultural studies reading of several “guilty pleasure” texts spanning from 19th century novels, to Sex and the City. I really enjoyed the highly readable and relatable tone, with a healthy dose of humour. It was a good reminder of what layers of shame society places on typically “femme” experiences and content, and motivation to unremorsefully find the pleasure in them.

[Audreezy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Damn, this makes me hate our toxic society and culture a little more than I already do

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book for all lovers of good romcoms, “chick lit,” and any fictional story dazzled with beautiful dresses and happy endings. These phrases are never associated of being worthy intellectual pursuits, instead they are seen as trashy and guilty reads targeted for a female population. Zibrak’s book is the antidote to all this madness — she uses academic theory and a personal interest in the genre to help explain why we have been wrong to categorize “female-led” stories to be less than other forms of literature. Zibrak also notes that 74% of American general-diction readers are women, and the cultural historian Helen Taylor’s research found that women are the gatekeepers to libraries, book club, literary bloggers, audiences at literary festivals and our beloved bookstagram/booktok. A tangent that interests me is why is bookstagram mostly female-oriented and how does that impact the literature that is circulated within this community?

Anyway back to the book — Zibrak’s argument is that women enjoy “guilty” reads and watches as a form of catharsis from the inequities and domination women experience in their day to day. Even the staunchest feminist can enjoy a story where the prince sweeps the heroine off her feet, but why would we ever indulge in this if we know how to stand on our own two feet? Because sometime you just want to give in and stop trying to fix the inequities you face everyday, and simply escape in a story that seeps with an accepted form of male domination. As Zibrak says, ‘while we may wish for [social and political structures] to change, fight for them to change, they do not change; so another part of why the romance is cathartic and pleasurable is because the romance doesn’t attempt to change things in a durable way.”

- This review is made possible after receiving an ARC from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.-

[TammyJo Eckhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I ever needed confirmation that I am not cisgender, this book is just another example of that. If most or all women indeed find the three types of literature (or media or culture) that Arielle Zibrak describes and analyzes in this book entertaining or even attractive in any way, I am so not them in many cases, at least on the surface level. It isn't until Zibrak digs really deep that I start to see what she might be getting at, it just is that I don't find all that cover BS interesting at all, I don't find it comforting or entertaining, I find it annoying, horrifying, and tummy churning. Perhaps this is why I've always surrounded myself with non gender stereotyped folks.

I did find her arguments interesting about how there might be comfort in accepting some patriarchy BS when it takes so long to make any progress except I don't. It doesn't bring me comfort to see things out of my reach or to see injustice pushed as morally or religious fair. That it is that way for some folks explains a lot to me about why things are not changing and perhaps may be a big reason why they aren't. But the book isn't about that. It is merely that some people feel that way and that it is okay to feel that way.

Is it?

[Emily Field · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is for anyone who loves romance novels, “chick flicks,” or who has ever been told or has told themselves that the culture they consume is “trashy”! Then again, it’s also for people (like me) who don’t really dig that stuff but who enjoy thoughtful and thought-provoking writing on popular culture and gender. The writing is funny and smooth as Zibrak moves between memoir and oh-so-readable literary/film/tv criticism. Zibrak proceeds from a deep love for women—or, as she puts it more inclusively, anyone who is “femme”—and advances the argument throughout that disparaging or dismissing what women love to watch or read is, well, sexist. Instead, she dignifies popular cultural phenomena from nineteenth-century women’s fiction to “rich white people fictions” like Gossip Girl with a critical attention that taught me (a woman for a number of decades now) more about what it means to be a woman and to extend genuine love to the femmes in our world. A representative quote: “We hate-watch because it represents the conflicted way in which we love because we’ve been taught to love under a system that, ultimately, hates us.”

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an English major in France, and a French pupil before that, I had experienced some American classics and found them mostly gloomy and unappealing (except for Emily Dickinson who's gloomy but whose sensitivity I could really relate to). I had never thought about the fact that she was a She and that it may have had an (unconscious) impact on my understanding and my feelings about her work.

Avidly Reads Guilty Pleasures is a very interesting read, it appeared I knew so little about 19th cy American literature and that women writers had had such a big impact back then (their names have not crossed the Atlantic ocean... it would be funny to see what remains of our nowadays bestsellers in 200 years).

The second half of Avidly Reads Guilty Pleasures drops a bit the literary aspect to focus on movies and, while food for thought, lost me little (because of the title "Avidly Reads...").

Thank you to Netgalley for providing an eArc in exchange of an honest review.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe because of my background in both WGS and cultural studies I expected something with a little more substance. While the series is meant to be intelligent without being academic, this was more like reading slightly over educated high school kids make comments designed to be attention getting, like social media posts with little substance but garnering a lot of "likes."

There were some interesting points but they were quickly overrun by posturing types of commentary instead of staying on track and actually finishing the point.

I have no doubt some will like this and I would even recommend it to a few people, so I don't think it is entirely bad. I just wouldn't recommend it to anyone who likes clear exposition and well-formed opinions and arguments, I won't do that to my friends.

[BookCrazy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who doesn't have a "Guilty Pleasure"? That reality TV show you secretly watch every week? Or that smutty book you love?

In this essay, Arielle Zibrak dives into the psychology and history of guilty pleasures. I liked her take on the subject as I'm an avid reader of romance books which are generally categorized as guilty pleasures. We may feel guilty about liking something that nowadays may be put into question (like a big white wedding dress); but at the end of the day, we are immersed in a society where we see that a lot. So why hide it?

I specially liked the introduction and first chapter. Though, there're a lot of quotes and extracts from books; in some cases, I found them to be too long. The author could have made her point without adding two pages of another book transcribed.

[Biblio Files (takingadayoff) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Are they "guilty" pleasures or simply pleasures that we are slightly embarrassed about? Either way, this Avidly Reads take on romance novels, Sex and the City, romantic comedies, wedding dresses, shoe shopping, and assorted other girly indulgences to see what it is we like about them. Deconstruct your own lowbrow enjoyments and see if you can figure out why otherwise brainy people secretly enjoy what Professor Arielle Zibrak called Rich White People Fantasies, such as Love, Actually. It's that rare book that makes you laugh and think at the same time.

[Libby Waterford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full of great insights and humorous asides, this book was an interesting read on the heels of The Heroine's Journey by Gail Carriger. I think fans of popular culture, romance novels, rom coms, and other femme fictions would enjoy Zibrak's take.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

eh, this is fine. I originally started with the DRC, but decided I wanted to take notes in it so ordered the paper copy. It would have helped the author to use far more recent (and more numerous) examples than a 19th century novel, a 1980s romance novel (Sweet Savage Love) and 50 Shades. The recent rise of TikTok and the spicytiktok hashtag make the examples here feel like historical artifacts (50 Shades is 10+ years old at this point and SSL is about 35 iirc)

[May · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great discussion about romance novels. I wish that more people would read this book and understand the cultural significance of romance novels. A great discussion of heteropatriarchy and how it affects something as simple as romance novels. Terrific analysis and wonderful cultural discussion.

[Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great primer on the many seductive and messed-up affects romance stirs up, using a deep archive of romance studies but conveying its main points in conversational and often very funny language. Most parts of the argument Zibrak develops aren’t new, but her clear, concise, and powerful prose was a delight to read. Hope to return to this for my own scholarship in the future.

[Lena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here to recommend Guilty Pleasures by Arielle Zibrak. Chapters focus on gender, race class etc in the world of fiction written for an audience of women. Written by someone basically my age and all the cultural references (and carefully crafted critiques) are at times poignant and at others, hilarious.

[janie · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be completely fair, this is an interesting read; one that was recommended to me as a starting place for research for my master's thesis. This certainly does provide some of that background information, but I think the majority of what I found interesting was in the introduction. The actual chapters felt a bit muddled to me — like they lost the plot of the argument.

[Christen · Rating 4 out of 5]

While an academic treatise on the femme outlook of "guilty pleasure," television, media, and books in the RomComs, and the ChickLit, RomCom, and Romance Genre (yes, they are all different). Mostly reflecting what was is considered "trash" in today's various forms of Media. I found this relatable. Caveat: If you don't have any academic reading and philosophy experience behind you, you are going to be spending some time googling terms - which is not a bad thing!

I got an ARC from Edelweiss and New York University Press.

[DM · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a lifelong avid consumer of “women’s stuff” I loved this so much. Her section on rich white people I found slightly less convincing but overall this was so good. I even teared up a little during the conclusion.

[Books and the Bronx Gurrrrlll · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by one of my professors. Great read. Just long enough.

[Shallowreader VaVeros · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!

[Sara]

This book was interesting, but it didn't work for me right now.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read in a day for my phd proposal. Really interesting and I actually enjoyed it outside of my proposal project, recommended by my tutors, glad I read it.

[Molly Roach · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Jennifer Pullen · Rating 5 out of 5]

An delightful slim volume that blends literary criticism and the personal essay. Useful and interesting!