Women and Society Unit 3

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Women Writers International I
"To name oneself is the first act of both the poet and the revolutionary. When we take
away the right to an individual name, we symbolically take away the right to be an
individual. Immigration officials did this to refugees; husbands routinely do it to
wives.”
Erica Jong
In a world of almost all male editors, and almost all male writers, in a sexist society, what
effect can writing under a female name have? Questions a woman may ask herself when
writing might be: Am I getting less pay? Am I getting published less? Am I taken less
seriously?
You may argue that nowadays there isn’t much difference whether you are a male or a female
writer but we are thinking from a Western perspective think of all the societies where being a
woman is still considered a “lesser category”.
Sometimes women have written under a male name to save their family’s face, many times for physical safety, often
because writing about politics, science, education or other topics would make the males or parents in the house look
bad, sometimes simply because their names are difficult to pronounce or spell. Some female authors claim to have
used men’s names to make sure that their works were accepted by publishers or taken seriously by the public.
Using a different name has allowed women anonymity but at the same time has raised awareness about the women
artists of our past and present and the issues that have lead them to write under a different name.
Charlotte, Anne and Emily Bronte published under the names of Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell.
Louisa May Alcott used the male name “A.N. Barnard” when she submitted her first pieces for
publication because writing was not considered a “ladylike” profession.
Mary Ann Evans is George Eliot. She was a famous literary critic and was also having an affair
with a married man that was well known. She changed her name when publishing her books so
nobody would know who she was as well as to reach a wider audience.
Amandine Aurore Lucile Dupen is George Sand. Some people consider her a feminist although she refused to join
this movement. She is regarded as the first French female novelist to achieve a reputation.
Karen Blixen is Isak Dinesen. In English she is best known for an Academy Award-winning motion picture which
features Meryl Streep and Robert Redford.
Victoria Benedictsson is Ernst Ahlgren. She was a Swedish authoress born in 1850. She wrote about the inequality
of marriage and often discussed women’s rights in her writings. Some critics see her as an early feminist.
S. E. Hinton has written stories which have strong male protagonists. She uses her initials, perhaps to better
separate her public life from her private life.
educacionadistancia.juntadeandalucia.es/semi/blocks/recopila/view.php?id=192631 1/9
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Joanne Rowling, better known as J. K. Rowling, was told that she would sell more books if she hid her gender.
Francoise Barry wrote as Robertine Barry. It is believed Barry changed her name because she wrote for a
Canadian magazine that published her stories about abused rural women. She was an important figure in the history
of 19th century Canadian feminism.
Toni Morrison was born Chloe Anthony Wofford in 1931 to a black working-class family. She was the first black
woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Beatrix Potter (Helen Beatrix Potter) is best known for her children’s books centred on animal characters. She was
not only an English authoress and illustrator but also a mycologist and conservationist. Amandine Aurore Lucile
Dupen is George Sand. Some people consider her a feminist although she refused to join this movement. She is
regarded as the first French female novelist to achieve a reputation.
Women Writers International II
Who is who? Can you match the picture with the woman?
Picture 1 Select... S.E. Hinton Picture 7 Select... S.E. Hinton

George Eliot Brontë Sisters Karen George Eliot Brontë Sisters Karen
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Blixen Victoria Benedictsson Beatrix Blixen Victoria Benedictsson Beatrix

Potter J.K. Rowling Louisa May Potter J.K. Rowling Louisa May Alcott
Alcott George Sand Francoise Barry George Sand Francoise Barry Toni
Toni Morrison Morrison
Picture 6 Select... S.E. Hinton
George Eliot Brontë Sisters Karen
Blixen Victoria Benedictsson Beatrix
Potter J.K. Rowling Louisa May
Alcott George Sand Francoise Barry
Toni Morrison
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Who wrote what? Can you match the women with what they wrote?
Writer Work
George Sand Select... Wuthering Heights
Middlemarch The Tale of Peter
Rabbit Fleurs champêtres Rose et
Blanche Harry Potter Series Little
Women Out of Africa The Bluest
Eye Money The Outsiders Jane
Eyre Anges Grey
Charlotte Brontë Select... Wuthering Heights
Eyre Anges Grey
Emily Brontë Select... Wuthering Heights
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Eyre Anges Grey
Anne Brontë Select... Wuthering Heights
Eyre Anges Grey
George Eliot Select... Wuthering Heights
Eyre Anges Grey
Louisa May Alcott Select... Wuthering Heights
Eyre Anges Grey
Victoria Benedictsson Select... Wuthering Heights
Eyre Anges Grey
Francoise Barry Select... Wuthering Heights
Eyre Anges Grey
Karen Blixen Select... Wuthering Heights
Eyre Anges Grey
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Toni Morrison Select... Wuthering Heights

Eyre Anges Grey
Beatrix Potter Select... Wuthering Heights
Eyre Anges Grey
S.E. Hinton Select... Wuthering Heights
Eyre Anges Grey
J.K. Rowling Select... Wuthering Heights
Eyre Anges Grey
Writer Work
George Sand Rose et Blanche
Charlotte Brontë Jane Eyre
Emily Brontë Wuthering Heights
Anne Brontë Agnes Grey
George Eliot Middlemarch
Louisa May Alcott Little Women
Victoria Benedictsson Money
Francoise Barry Fleurs champêtres
Karen Blixen Out of Africa
Toni Morrison The Bluest Eye
Beatrix Potter The Tale of Peter Rabbit
S.E. Hinton The Outsiders
J.K. Rowling Harry Potter series
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Read the paragraph below and complete the author

"I merged those two words, black and feminist, because I was surrounded by black women who
were very tough and who always assumed they had to work and rear children and manage
homes."
Select... Beatrix Potter Toni Morrison George Eliot Emily Bronte Karen Blixen Charlotte Bronte J.K.
Rowling
"Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself."

Rowling
"I remember I used to half believe and wholly play with fairies when I was a child. What heaven can
be more real than to retain the spirit-world of childhood, tempered and balanced by knowledge
and common-sense..."
Rowling
"The golden moments in the stream of life rush past us and we see nothing but sand; the angels
come to visit us, and we only know them when they are gone."
Rowling
"God made the world round so we would never be able to see too far down the road."
Rowling
"I have dreamed in my life, dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas;
they have gone through and through me, like wine through water, and altered the colour of my
mind."
Rowling
"I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will."
Rowling
"I merged those two words, black and feminist, because I was surrounded by
black women who were very tough and who always assumed they had to
work and rear children and manage homes". Toni Morrison
"Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself". J.K. Rowling
"I remember I used to half believe and wholly play with fairies when I was a
child. What heaven can be more real than to retain the spirit-world of
childhood, tempered and balanced by knowledge and common-sense..."
Beatrix Potter
"The golden moments in the stream of life rush past us and we see nothing
but sand; the angels come to visit us, and we only know them when they are
gone". George Eliot
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"God made the world round so we would never be able to see too far down
the road". Karen Blixen
"I have dreamed in my life, dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and
changed my ideas; they have gone through and through me, like wine
through water, and altered the colour of my mind". Emily Bronte
"I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an
independent will." Charlotte Bronte
What is the name of a Spanish woman who wrote with a male pen name in the 1800s?
Cecilia Francisca Josefa Böhl de Faber or better known as Fernan Caballero
Learn More:
George Sand
http://www.amybrown.net/women/george.html
Brontë Sisters
http://www.lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~matsuoka/Bronte.html
George Eliot
http://www.lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~matsuoka/Eliot.html
Louisa May Alcott

http://www.online-literature.com/alcott/
Victoria Benedictsson
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Benedictsson
Francoise Barry
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/women/002026-215-e.html
Karen Blixen
http://www.karenblixen.com/
Toni Morrison
http://www.tonimorrisonsociety.org/
Beatrix Potter
http://www.visitcumbria.com/bpotter.htm
S.E. Hinton
http://www.sehinton.com/bio.html
J.K. Rowling
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http://www.jkrowling.com/en
The International Women’s Writing Guild

http://www.iwwg.com/
The Muslim Women’s Writers’ Workshop

http://www.mwwwi.com/aboutus.shtml
The International PEN Women Writers’ Committee

http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/go/committees/women-writers
English PEN is a registered charity (number 1125610), working to promote literature and human
rights.
http://www.englishpen.org/writersinprison/bulletins/internationalwomensday2009womenwritersunderattackinlatiname
International Freedom of Expression Exchange

http://www.ifex.org/international/2009/03/11/women_writers_subject_to_censorship/
Dutch writers
http://www.womenwriters.nl/index.php/Dutch_authors
Erica Jong
http://www.ericajong.com/abouterica.htm
Spanish women writers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Spanish_women_writers

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04/12/13 eXe

Women Writers International I

Women Writers International II

Picture 1 Select... S.E. Hinton Picture 7 Select... S.E. Hinton

Blixen Victoria Benedictsson Beatrix Blixen Victoria Benedictsson Beatrix

Middlemarch The Tale of Peter

Toni Morrison Select... Wuthering Heights

Read the paragraph below and complete the author

"Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself."

"Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself". J.K. Rowling

Cecilia Francisca Josefa Böhl de Faber or better known as Fernan Caballero

Louisa May Alcott

The International Women’s Writing Guild

The Muslim Women’s Writers’ Workshop

The International PEN Women Writers’ Committee

International Freedom of Expression Exchange

Spanish women writers

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