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Edit: I am retitling this post "I'm Proud of My Name" (previously "Should I Be Ashamed of My Name?"). This is very much a venting of the thoughts and frustrations I was having—and still have. I am frustrated by the lack of gender equality in the publishing industry and by the fact that the bias toward women is so deeply ingrained in our culture that even highly intelligent, well-educated professionals often act in a sexist way without even realizing it.
But I am not ashamed of my name. I will never use a male or gender-neutral pseudonym. I believe that women writers have a respobsibility to represent our gender in the publishing industry. Readers use a lack of female writers to justify the belief that women simply don't write as well as men, and writing under a male pseudonym only adds to the cycle. If a reader walks into a bookstore and sees only male names on the shelf, what other conclusion is he or she to draw? Now I'm not knocking women who choose that path. I get it. From my below discussion, you know I get it. But personally, I'm damn proud of my name. And it will always appear on my work.
I recently read Homme de Plume by Catherine Nichols. I was aware of the publishing industry's gender bias, but it's a different thing to see proof—numbers that cannot be ignored. Catherine's same query letter sent using a male name received 17/50 manuscript requests versus 2/50 using her female name. Nichols says her male counterpart "is eight and a half times better than me at writing the same book.
Before embarking on my writing career, I had to decide what name to publish under. I've been called "Tori" my whole life. It's what family and friends address me as. It's what I introduce myself as to strangers. However, I decided to publish under my legal name, "Victoria," because it sounded professional. I liked the flow of four syllables into my two-syllable surname. And although I will always say my name is "Tori" when asked, "Victoria" is my given name. It's a part of my identity. It's the name I sign, and it's the name that will be etched into my tombstone when I'm gone.
Now I'm wondering if I chose wrong. Should I have published under "Tori" or "Tory" because it is unisex? Because an editor or agent reading my name in the signature of my submission would not know my gender? I wonder if I should have chosen the option that allows me to hide the fact that I am a woman. I hate that I must wonder that. I hate that my work will be preemptively judged—be editors and readers—before they have read the first line. I hate that the words in my byline color the words of my story. My freshman year of college, I took a writing class in which we regularly workshopped each other's pieces. When your story was being discussed, you were to sit quietly and listen. No interjections. No, "But it means this. You just don't get it." No adding to or changing the words on the page. The work was to speak for itself. Now I'm told that my work cannot speak for itself, that my name above the story will always alter the reader's perception of it. I am told that my identity as a woman not only affects others' perception of me, but of my work as well. I am told that unintentional bias and gender-expectations will change the way readers respond to my work. And there is not a damn thing I can do about it. Catherine Nichols' is not the first piece of evidence I've seen regarding gender bias, though it is likely the most striking. Amanda Filipacchi discusses the differences between male and female author photos. Nicola Griffith presents upsetting data regarding the lack of female authors winning literary awards. Peter O'Dowd realizes his own personal bias against female authors, reading 22/149 books written by women over a decade. The problem is so pronounced that some presses, such as And Other Stories, are pledging to publish only women in the year 2018. So you tell me—what is the solution? Should female writers publish under male names to dissuade gender bias? Should we all dress in overalls so no one can tell the difference? Should everyone sacrifice their names and identities in favor of initials? How do we fight bias so deeply ingrained that the biased are unaware of it? What do you think? Is there a solution?
Archive Link: A Writer's Guide to Grief - 5 Stages of Revision
9 Comments
This is a really interesting article. It reminds me of JK Rowling who used initials to appeal to a wider audience. I think it depends on who your target audience is and what you're trying to sell to people, in the instance of books, if you're trying to sell a romance, fantasy etc.
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8/31/2016 04:15:52 pm
Certainly true.The practical and moral considerations become intertwined. I guess we have to choose from somewhere in the middle.
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Avery
8/29/2016 01:41:22 pm
I think a bias in agent acceptance, publication, or even award distribution doesn't necessarily represent a bias in readership. While it's unfortunate that getting books written by female authors to market is more difficut, I think that over time it's going to be the readers that decide what stays in the marketplace.
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8/31/2016 04:13:56 pm
I'm feeling the need to edit, or expand, this post. I will always publish under Victoria. I'll never let the biases push me into using initials because, honestly, I would feel as though I was contributing to the biases. If women publish under masculine/gender neutral names, does it not begin to appear that there are no talented female writers?
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Amy
10/30/2016 06:26:01 am
I would never ever ever ever (times a million) publish under my own name. I have a genderless, implied-male nom de plume already picked out. I mean, I already hate my own name anyway, but I know that no one would ever buy a book with my actual name printed on it. I am actively embarrassed by it.
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Paula Gesmundo
11/8/2016 10:42:46 am
This is an issue I've been considering for some time. In my case, I'm worried, not just about my female name, but also by the reality that my name dates me. I spotted it in a baby name book on a list entitled "Names That Are So Far Out They Will Never Be Back In." So, I'm not just a woman. I'm an old(er) woman. Now I know women of my era have quite a lot to say. But I don't know if people want to hear it. I think I would publish under my initials, given the choice. I haven't had the guts to query that way though.
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11/12/2016 06:01:09 am
I read this and then looked up the best selling authors of all time. Apparently they are, in this order:
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Nina
11/12/2016 06:24:51 am
Interesting problem. I tend to prefer writing male protagonists, although I've done both. Now that I am querying, I wonder if I should go with initials? It leaves the option of moving to a full name if I become successful.
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6/4/2018 04:35:11 am
I was once told by a mystery editor with her own imprint that she wanted a cozy from me and to stop writing dark mysteries as they were better from male authors. Needless to say, I didin't listen to her.
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