20. Chick lit may be hazardous to your health

http://www.salon.com/2013/01/19/chick_lit_may_be_hazardous_to_your_health/

On January 19th, Tom Jacobs writes to the Pacific Standard about the possible negative effects the genre "chick flick" might inflict upon its readers. He starts the article by setting an analogy between the praised femine genre and other media standards, mentioning a well-known ground of how violent video games and sexually aggressive song lyrics impact the one's who come in contact with these.After establishing the relationship between media device and the interlocutor, Jacobs goes into specifics as he tells the reader about a recent research made on Virginia Tech over the effects of "chick-lit" on the women who read it. He continues the article by stating a couple references from a previous research and then explaining how the research occurred and what were its results. He closes the article by stating women who come into contact with novels from that specific genre tend to think of themselves as overweight and become disatisfied with their own bodies, leading to more serious consequences, such as bulimia and anorexia.

Jacobs' purpose when writing this article is to show how an innocent media device such as "chick flick" novel can have serious negative effects. In order to accomplish his goal, Jacobs uses analogies, as he places chick flicks right next to violent video games and sexually aggressive songs. Besides using analogies, he uses examples and facts to prove his point: he mentions the famous Bridget Jones and talks about research made on its effects on women. His purpose becomes clear as he achives it in the last sentence of the article: "Bridget Jones is a hoot, but spending quality time with her may come at a cost."