Women have been excluded from most credit for their contributions to art, literature, music, journalism, and culture.
Their work has often been stolen, plagiarized, and appropriated without attribution.
Men took credit for writing, directing, composing, painting, editing, publishing, photographing, performing - and generally being more visible than women in nearly every field.
Female artists are still underrepresented in galleries, museums, anthologies, and festivals; male authors outnumber them in print, online, and social media.
Women were mostly excluded from the creative process. They produced ideas but seldom received recognition. Men claimed credit.
This is the result of centuries of discrimination against female artists and writers. It persists today.
In this essay, I'll describe how men have taken credit for women's work throughout history and show examples of it happening now.
Articles are written about famous artists like Picasso and Shakespeare, but few mention the women who inspired or collaborated with them.
Even when feminist movements emerged in the 1960s, men still dominated creative fields. Women could write, paint, perform - but men made all the money.
The MeToo movement exposed many cases where men abused power to get sexual favors from their female employees or colleagues.
I'll explain why women should be credited for their work and how it benefits everyone.
Examples: The Beatles got songwriting credits on songs by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, even if George Harrison wrote some lyrics and melodies.
Similarly, Michelangelo took sole credit for his sculpture "David," though a female model was nude during the creation.
Today, most news sites do not list editors or photographers publicly, making it hard to know who made contributions.
Many articles claim "men created" technology, literature, music, art, etc., even if women invented or pioneered them.
Achievements by women are often overlooked or attributed to men. This needs to change.
Women are underrepresented as authors, directors, producers, painters, photographers, musicians, etc. Their work isn't given due recognition.
Men don't need to steal or suppress women's work. They can support, collaborate, and promote women instead.
Crediting women is beneficial because it creates more opportunities for collaboration and innovation.