I don't remember where I got that, it was in one of several articles about the lady I read. I am sure that it was said, but now you have said this, I cannot be sure that it was true. Male writers shorten their names for different reasons: C.S.Lewis hated his name and called himself Jack - all his friends always spoke of "Jack Lewis" - and Tolkien had, I think, a certain shyness. As for Chesterton, people speak just as easily of Gilbert K.Chesterton; the G.K. refers more to the symbol "GKC" by which he was known - like his friend and adversary "GBS" Shaw - from his earliest days. There was no hiding about it. I doubt that any such factors come in play with Joanne Rowling, Nancy Sandars or Antonia Byatt.
I dare say that my annoyance at this is due in part to the fact that it led me into a sort of unconscious complicity. Without indication of sex, I just naturally assumed that N.K.Sandars was male. I do not think this is a major fault - after all, everyone makes assumptions - but it caught me up with the very sexist nonsense that bothers me so much.
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Date: 2004-08-25 06:47 am (UTC)I dare say that my annoyance at this is due in part to the fact that it led me into a sort of unconscious complicity. Without indication of sex, I just naturally assumed that N.K.Sandars was male. I do not think this is a major fault - after all, everyone makes assumptions - but it caught me up with the very sexist nonsense that bothers me so much.