a digital repository devoted to shining light on the systemic erasure of women in literature
Though phrased as an honor, the trope of the female muse is one of the most subtle and destructive ways in which a woman’s validity has been hidden from history. Rather than being recognized as artists in their own right, the label of “muse” is essentially a dismissal. This trope serves to undermine their intellectual contributions by reducing their role. Women are allowed to be inspiration, but never the inspired.
Why We Exist
By wrongly attributing women’s contributions to men, history has reframed what artistic genius is- one in which men appear to be the sole visionaries while women are cast as their inspiration or silent supporters. This leads to the women being written out of the story of history, a story they exist and belong in.
The True Authors
“I hope she’ll be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”
Zelda Fitzgerald diary entry appropriated by F. Scott Fitzgerald for The Great Gatsby