Why Did Women Use Pen Names To Get Past?

There are many female writers, some known better than other. Female writes most of the time focused their stories in experiences or personal point of view on what is going on around them. Other women write fiction of unusual worlds and character that people can relate to with the struggle or experiences. Margaret Atwood the “Canadian nationalist poetess is a prominebt figure concerned with the need for a new language to explore relations between subjects and society“ (Omid, Pyeaam 1). Atwood wrote her first novel called, “The Edible Woman”; this first novel categorized her as feminist, based on the main character of a strong woman. In an interview with Emma Brockes, Atwood affirms, "First of all, what is feminism? Second, which branch of

Throughout the history of American Literature there has been a common theme of male oppression. Especially towards the end of the 19th century, before the first wave of feminism, women were faced with an unshakeable social prison. Husband, home and children were the only life they knew, many encouraged not to work. That being said, many female writers at the time, including Emily Dickinson and Charlotte Perkins Gilman, were determined to examine the mind behind the American woman, through the lens of mental illness and personal experience.

Names identify who we are. Thousands of different writers use pen names. This means they go by a different name. They do this because of many different reasons. Those reasons include discrimination, hate, and biased publishers.

Feminism today remains prominent because even while women’s rights are very strong, women are still fighting for equality every day. In the time of Anne Bradstreet, women had few rights and they were seen as inferior to men. Anne lived among the puritans whom ruled her everyday life. Although it was against the puritan code for women to receive an education, Bradstreet’s father, Thomas Dudley, loved his daughter dearly and made sure that she was well educated which shows in her works. Anne Bradstreet’s literature became well known only because her family published her works under a male name. This was done because writing poetry was a serious offense to the puritans since poetry was

The inner workings of the post office enabled the postal service to have a wider communication system. Strangers were allowed to communicate with each other easily by going to the post office in their small towns and urban cities, able to contact the outside world. Going to the post office was something that only men had done when the postal system had been an integral and fast system of communication for the first time in American history. It also was a place of secrecy where unexpected encounters might have occurred. It lead the public to fear over their privacy. Women were more prominent to be uncomfortable by the masculinity that dominated the post office which meant the women had a difficult time sending letters to a loved

Whether it is because they think it is easier to be taken seriously or not. In “Doe Season” by David Kaplan, Charlie Spoon is very critical of Andy’s choice to go by Andy when her real name is Andrea. Spoon is condemning of Andy’s choice saying “you’re half boy anyway. You go by a boy’s name”(149).Throughout history many females have gone by male names, this is most easily seen in authors. According to CNN “most female authors purposefully opt for a male pseudonym to appeal to a wider audience” (Lytton). In an interview with CNN Carmela Ciuraru, author of “Nom de plume: A history of pseudonyms”, states that sometimes it’s easier to be taken seriously as a man (CNN). By going by male names female authors prove that regardless of the name on the cover of the book the content is still just as appealing. This is seen in “Doe Season” as well. Regardless of what Andy chooses to go by she proves girls can still hunt just as well as the boys can. Just as the authors proved that no matter what you go by, the book will still sell. Andy challenged social norms by going by a ‘boys’ name , by doing this it proves that girls are just as capable as

Virginia Woolf saw it the same way; in how women of a time before the eighteenth century had little to no history of prominent women as literary artists or in general. In her essay, Woolf states that there is very little mention in history of women, and if mentioned they usually happen to be a royal lady such as an Elizabeth or Mary. A middle-class woman could never participate in such a movement of acknowledgment, even if she had brains and character to dispense. No average Elizabethan woman ever just wrote her story, regardless of the circumstance of the era, because she would have been “snubbed, slapped, lectured, and exhorted”(Jacobus 702). It was proven that there are just few exceptions in evidence, such as women’s letters (Jacobus 695-696).

What does it m ~ an to be a woman writer in a culture whose fundamental de finiti ons f li te rary aut hority are , as we hav e seen. both overtl y and

Louisa May Alcott was an American Literature that really wrote her books using her name as a mans name. In 1862 she adopted the name A.M. barnard. She wrote for magazines, newspapers, and short stories. Until she was committed with writing her name. Louisa May Alcott was a popular author during the 1800s and her birth, formative years, education, contribution to literature and personal impact, her contribution highlights her as a famous writer, among women. Louisa May Alcott has achieved many things in her life.

With the 19th Century writers, one can begin to consider women 's writing in a more expanded manner - as a kind of writing that has its own nature based on what it is to be a woman.

Cultures can shape the identities of individuals. Kingston identity was shape by Chinese and Chinese American culture. "No Name Woman," begins with a talk-story, about Kingston’ aunt she never knew. The aunt had brought disgrace upon her family by having an illegitimate child. In paragraph three, “she could not have been pregnant, you see, because her husband had been gone for years” (621). This shows that Kingston’s aunt had an affair with someone and the result was her pregnancy. She ended up killing herself and her baby by jumping into the family well in China. After hearing the story, Kingston is not allowed to mention her aunt again. The ideas of gender role-play an important role in both cultures. Kingston in her story “No Name

Unfeminine Feminism In the nineteenth century, which was more commonly known as the Victorian Era, Europe and North America believed in the ideology of separate spheres which was intended to show off the fact that men and woman were not equal. It was understood that men were a part of the public sphere where they would go out to work and mainly have a social life, while woman belonged in the domestic sphere where they were expected and encouraged to be stay at home mothers and cook/clean all day. Fundamentally speaking, society did not see woman as real people. Woman were not allowed to vote, claim property, nor where they able to get an education.

In the early nineteen century, women were not explicitly part of literature. they were used male pseudonym to publish their works. However, later in the century, there was a shift in women’s implication in literature. women began to be publicly recognized as writers, and they were using their writings to advocate for women’s rights and to reject stereotypes that were commonly associated with them. For example, in the early nineteen century, books and novels were mostly describing “piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity” as attributes of a good woman (Fortin). Writings by women were describing women that where rejecting values of the patriarchal society; women that wanted freedom and independence. The writings of Kate Chopin and Charlotte Perkins Gilman exemplify the features of the Feminist phase of female literary tradition. Published respectively in 1892 and 1895, “The Yellow Wall-Paper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin are the quintessence of feminist literature. They both used characterization, setting, ad irony to protest a misogynistic society and to request women’s rights and autonomy.

an author which truly achieved many firsts for women. She was the first woman to

From Enheduanna to Jane Austen to Charlotte Bronte to J.K. Rowling. Woman have proved over and over again that the role of author and/or writer can suit females just as much as any man. Mansfield encouraged women to write and used herself as an example with her own writing to try to attract more female authors. Often, women are pictures as just people who birth babies, cook, clean, shopped and stayed around as house wives. Sometimes, they did not have a wide span of education. Even in the early 1900’s women didn’t often go to college, it wasn’t until the 1980’s that women began to attend college in equal numbers to men. Poet laureate Robert Southey said “Literature cannot be the business of a women’s life.” One of the key assumptions that Mansfield and other women modernists faced was the habit of presenting narrative fiction through male eyes and according to male values. Mansfield herself strived for everyone (not limited to just women) to do whatever they wanted. She encouraged people to break rules and branch out.