I am a huge bookworm, and many of my favorite authors are women. In fact, I probably almost exclusively read books written by women. The stories are more relatable, and personally revolutionary. However, my ability to actively seek out women authors is really a privilege.
Last year, I took a course on the history of the book and we briefly touched on women’s role in the development of this medium, specifically looking at the emergence of women authors and the barriers we faced.
It was during this course where I learned that famed author, George Eliot, was really a woman named Mary Ann Evans. Now, I considered myself pretty well informed when it comes to women’s history. I mean I am a woman, how could I not. So, the fact that I was just learning this information now, as someone that has read some George Eliot literature before, was concerning to me.
I had known about the BrontĂ« sister pseudonyms and Louisa May Allot and Jane Austen’s anonymity, so why didn’t I know about Mary Evans? Probably because, unlike those other famous women, her works are still published under her pen name. Centuries after her death, Mary continues to remain relatively unknown to the casual reader.
This male-centered narrative that suppresses women from getting the recognition they deserve with their own name is not a thing of the past. Female authors still use male pseudonyms, or more commonly, this idea that female authorship should be hidden has been repackaged into initial anonymity.
More recently, J.K. Rowling had been told before publishing her first Harry Potter novel that she should shorten her name, Joanne, to J.K. so she would sound more “androgynous” and have the capability of being initially viewed as a male so to not limit her audience as a female author. Prior to this series, she published under the name, Robert Galbraith. Love her or hate her, J.K. is a great example of how no matter how good your writing is, simply being a female author is seen as damaging to the success of your work.
Today, this standard cannot and should not still stand as, according to The World Economic Forum, female authors have been out selling their male counterparts and, in turn, keeping the publishing industry afloat.
Still, in male dominated genres, women continue to hide their identity in an attempt to avoid the repercussions of male bias readership. Take a look at Nora Roberts, a prominent romance and contemporary fiction author, who changes her name to J.D. Robb when writing her Mystery/SciFi novels, historically male dominated genres.
Things are definitely changing in the publishing world as male pen names are falling more and more out of favor, women are becoming more vocal about their readership, and some men even now opting to write under female names in genres such as romance.
However, there is still more work to do. There are probably many George Eliots out there that have not been able to get true credit for their work because of the gender-bias against them when they published.
Women have gone unrecognized for their achievements across many fields of study for far too long. So, as a woman, there is power simply in using your name. When someone mispronounces it, or suggests altering it for the sake of their own convenience, don’t shy away from correcting them. It was once a rare thing for a woman to be able to proudly put her name to her accomplishments, so proudly use yours for those who could not.