Arguments have been made that literary agents and publishers prefer to represent and distribute work done by men over that done of women. While there is no scientific studies I can point to, there is certainly enough anecdotal evidence to lead a female writer to wonder whether the lack of interest in her work is about the work or about the name accompanying it. My suspicion is that any woman in a male-dominated profession has come up against these stereotypical obstacles. Whether is be the law, STEM-based professions, politics and the like, some have disguised their femaleness in order to leap those hurdles.
Sandra Day O’Connor wasn’t appointed to SCOTUS until 1981. She is one of four women of the 112 Supreme Court judges in U.S. history. This, despite the fact that since 1992, law school enrollment has been equally split between men and women.
Articles like this one illustrate the matter with respect to science.
We all have seen the double standard applied to women politicians. Here’s a link comparing the volume of a female politician versus male ones.
And when it comes to writing, there very well may be the same hurdles. I think of S.E. Hinton, J.K. Rowling, George Eliot when it comes to writers with ambiguous, or even, “male” names. I wonder whether my stories would be welcomed and indulged were I to become “J.K. Brownson” or “Blake Brownson.”
This morning I was wondering it so much that I went ahead and created a nom de plume. Over the next few months, I’m going to see whether it matters. The report from my experience will be anecdotal, but it will be mine.
As much as I have heard, “In the end, it’s all about the writing,” I can’t help but wonder whether it’s the writing and the 23rd chromosome.
Jenna Brownson 
It will be interesting to see how you fare with the pen name. I can’t believe in this day and age such things still matter.
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You might consider “William Tinas” as yours.
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Never thought of that! I always thought maybe T.M. Williams or something.
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I like the idea of this experiment, too. It’s like, why not? I’m guessing what makes this unique is that no matter what the results are, it will be surprising. I don’t think you are doing something to prove a point here, it sounds like you are exploring to see what happens… if that makes sense.
Keep us posted.
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You are right, Steve. My efforts are out of curiosity not a “gotcha” sort of experiment.
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Even if you were trying to prove a point, what would that matter? Joanne Rowling’s “J.K.” was used deliberately because her editor or publisher (I don’t remember which) specifically said that there wouldn’t be enough interest in a book about a boy wizard written by a woman.
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Yes, I know the lore relative to J.K. Maybe I’m in a similar boat writing the stories I do. On the balance, I’ve written more in male point of view than female. Plus I’ve got that analytical brain, which some say is more XY than XX. We’ll see . . .
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Justin Lyttleton Brownson
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Adorable and witty.
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