Fratire is a type of 21st-century fiction literature written for and marketed to young men in a

politically incorrect "Political correctness" (adjectivally "politically correct"; commonly abbreviated to P.C.) is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in society. ...

and overtly

masculine Masculinity (also called manhood or manliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as socially constructed, and there is also evidence that some beh ...

fashion. The term was coined following the popularity of works by George Ouzounian (writing under the pen name Maddox) and

Tucker Max Tucker Max (born September 27, 1975) is an American author and public speaker. He chronicles his drinking and sexual encounters in the form of short story, short stories on his website ''TuckerMax.com'', which has received millions of visitors ...

. Described as a satirical celebration of traditional masculinity, the genre has been criticized for allegedly promoting

sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is int ...

and

misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against Woman, women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than Man, men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been wide ...

Genre

Fratire generally features male protagonists, usually in their twenties and thirties. It is characterized by masculine themes and could be considered the male equivalent of

chick lit "Chick lit" is a term used to describe a type of popular fiction targeted at women. Widely used in the 1990s and 2000s, the term has fallen out of fashion with publishers, with numerous writers and critics rejecting it as inherently sexist. Nove ...

. The genre was popularized by

's ''

I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell ''I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell'' is a book of autobiographical short stories about sex and drinking adventures written by Tucker Max. It was a ''New York Times'' #1 bestseller and made the New York Times Best Seller List, Best Seller List each ...

'' and Maddox's webpage titled

The Best Page in the Universe George Ouzounian (born ), known as Maddox, is an American blogger, YouTuber, and author. He gained fame on the internet in the early 2000s for his opinion-oriented website, '' The Best Page in the Universe'', which he still maintains. His firs ...

and his book '' The Alphabet of Manliness''. According to one of the authors, "fratire as a genre represents the non-mainstream literary reaction to the feminization of masculinity", although not all the books address this so directly.

Etymology

Fratire is a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

fraternity A fraternity (; whence, "wikt:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal order traditionally of men but also women associated together for various religious or secular ...

and

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...

. The term was introduced by ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' reporter

Warren St. John Warren St. John is an American author, journalist and business executive. He was a reporter at ''The New York Times'' from 2002 to 2008 and is now the Chief Executive Officer of Patch, the hyperlocal news network that was formerly part of AOL. ...

in a 2006 article titled "Dude, here's my book". Allegedly, it was the only word allowed by the editor. Tucker Max, after first hearing the term during a telephone interview with St. John, said, The term aimed to classify the recent publication of male-centric books that focused on alcohol and sexual themes. Publishers continued to push the genre as a sales tactic. After the success of the books published by Max and Maddox, publishers and reporters attempted to capitalize on the trend with new iterations of the word, including " lad-lit", "dicklit", "frat-lit" and "menaissance".

Criticism of fratire

Melissa Lafsky of ''The New York Times'' described the genre as "

for sale". Lafsky wrote that fratire authors were profiting by fueling young male anger concerning societal demands for equality. In a ''

Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive and liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, includ ...

'' interview with

Rebecca Traister Rebecca Traister (born 1975) is an American author and journalist. Traister is a writer-at-large for ''New York'' magazine and its website ''The Cut'', and a contributing editor at ''Elle'' magazine. Traister wrote for ''The New Republic'' from Fe ...

, Ouzounian said his writing was a nostalgic parody of old-fashioned masculinity and that society had moved too far forward to return to those concepts. In an interview with

Public Radio International Public Radio International (PRI) was an American public radio organization. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, PRI provided programming to over 850 public radio stations in the United States. PRI was one of the main providers of programmi ...

, Maddox offered the suggestion that the misogyny often associated with the genre of fratire had become more acceptable because women are stronger than they've ever been in society, and that singling out women as the only group not okay to lampoon is a sexist act in itself. In a 2008 article,

Kira Cochrane Kira Cochrane ( ; born 1977) is a British journalist and novelist. She is the Head of Features at ''The Guardian,'' and worked previously as Head of Opinion. Cochrane is an advocate for women's rights, as well as an active participant in fourth ...

in the ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

'' disputed that idea, stating there still remained much inequality between men and women. Cochrane called the fratire genre a regression to old-fashioned sexism "presented under the veil of irony".

Genre

Etymology

Criticism of fratire

See also

References

Further reading