Part of history

Give women their accomplishments back.

Written by Alyssa Maree

In the eyes of history, too many women’s accomplishments have been ignored, either given to a man or overlooked by a man that does the same thing and receives far better feedback.

"In male-dominated fields, many women are more scrutinized than their male coworkers."

It’s rather disturbing how easy it is to find a list of women whose accomplishments have been handed over to or overshadowed by their male counterparts throughout history. It shouldn’t be surprising as women weren’t allowed to own credit cards until 1974 and didn’t have legal protection against domestic abuse until 1994. It’s still upsetting, however, to know that even today these women and their accomplishments aren’t given the credit they deserve within their respective fields. These men have been more important than they’ve needed to be for way too long. 

Who is the original singer of “Hound Dog?” Hint, it’s not Elvis Presley. On Aug. 13, 1952, Wille Mae Thornton, also known as Big Mama Thornton, and Johnny Otis recorded “Hound Dog,” and, in 1953, it peaked at number one on Billboard’s rhythm and blues charts. In 1956, Presley released his recording and received international fame. Otis claims Presley’s team sued him and won and Thornton has been quoted saying she never received any royalties, but other sources allege that she was given some over the years. While Thornton had a mildly successful career, it wasn’t comparable to Presley's, which can be chalked up to racism and sexism. 

There’s a quite popular board game known as “The Landlord’s Game,” or that’s what it should be called if Charles Darrow had not stolen the idea, renamed it “Monopoly” and sold it. In 1903, a woman by the name of Elizabeth Magie made a board game expressing her anti-capitalist views. There were two versions of the game, one is the game as it is known today, and the other was against monopolist views where when wealth grew, all the players were rewarded. Magie patented her game and then sold it to the Economic Game Company. It was in 1936 that Darrow took the game, added minor changes and resold it to the Parker Brothers. Since it was patented, Magie received $500 when the game sold, but she was not given royalties. Darrow walked away a millionaire with royalties all his life, and Magie walked away with a sour taste in her mouth and anger in her heart. 

 “Everywhere we go and move on and change, something's lost – something's left behind,” – F. Scott Fitzgerald (allegedly), “The Beautiful and Damned” 

Fitzgerald credited most of his books to his wife, Zelda, as his muse. As it turned out, Fitzgerald would take entries out of Zelda’s diaries or letters and copy them word for word into his books. When Zelda tried releasing her own book, Fitzgerald joined the critics and labeled her a plagiarizer. Her book, “Save Me the Waltz,” was autobiographical. To reiterate, Fitzgerald, and others, accused Zelda of plagiarizing a book she wrote inspired by her own life.  Zelda made a public statement at one point, telling people about the diaries, but she was labeled as crazy. 

In the science world, there is a term called the “Matilda Effect” – or that’s what it’s called now. It deals with how women are often overlooked for their accomplishments and was first discussed in 1870 by Matilda Joslyn Gage in her book “Woman as Inventor.” Sociologists Robert Merton and Harriet Zuckerman found a passage in Matthew from the Bible (For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away) and called this the “Matthew Effect” in 1968. The phenomenon explored by a woman in her own professional experiences of being overlooked was investigated nearly a century later and rebranded. To a more masculine name. Also, Zuckerman is often left out when talking about the “Matthew Matilda Effect.”  

Women are held to a completely different standard than men. To many people, a father bringing home pizza for dinner is fun, but a mother doing so is lazy. In male-dominated fields, many women are more scrutinized than their male coworkers, especially if they’re women of color. Idealistically, the days of women’s accomplishments were wiped away to elevate a man are over. With the world's history at our fingertips (shoutout to Hedy Lamarr for wireless technology), it’s time to dismantle the men who stole their pedestals. These four women are just a few examples, but the next time you think about David Bowie remember Jayne County, when you go stargazing think about Vera Rubin and don’t forget about Ada Harris when you’re straightening your hair.