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 ''PC'') is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in socie ...

and overtly masculine 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 stories on his website ''TuckerMax.com'', which has received millions of visitors since Max lau ...

. 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 it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers pri ...

and

misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practice ...

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 younger women. Widely used in the 1990s and 2000s, the term has fallen out of fashion with publishers while writers and critics have rejected its inherent sexism. Novels id ...

. 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 Best Seller List each year from 2006 to 2011. It has ...

'' and Maddox's webpage titled

The Best Page in the Universe ''The Best Page in the Universe'' is a personal satirical humor website created by George Ouzounian, better known as Maddox, of Salt Lake City, Utah. Launched in 1997 without any high expectations, the website was primarily a personal homepag ...

and his book ''

The Alphabet of Manliness ''The Alphabet of Manliness'' is the debut book by American humorist and Internet personality Maddox, published in 2006. It reached the #2 position on the New York Times Best Seller List in the "Advice, How-To, and Miscellaneous" category. Publ ...

''. 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 A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsfraternity 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 shaming ...

. The term was introduced by ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' reporter Warren St. John 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 Lad lit was a term used principally from the 1990s to the early 2010s to describe male-authored popular novels about young men and their emotional and personal lives. Emerging as part of Britain's 1990s media-driven ''lad'' subculture, the ter ...

", "dicklit", "frat-lit" and "menaissance".

Criticism of fratire

Melissa Lafsky Melissa Lafsky (born 1979) is an American writer and entrepreneur. She began her career as a writer by founding the Opinionistas blog, which focused on the dehumanizing aspects of working at large law firms. She then entered digital journalism, wri ...

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/ 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, including re ...

'' 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, 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'' is a British Political magazine, political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney Webb, Sidney and Beatrice ...

'' 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