Why do women write under men’s names?

This explanation locates the problem before publication: the name is a device for securing a fair first reading from those who decide what is published and reviewed, so that the work is judged on the pages rather than against assumptions about its author.

This explanation holds that a man's name gives a woman writer latitude: it frees the work from expectations about what women write about and how, allowing subjects, registers and material that would otherwise be read as overreaching.

This explanation treats the choice as commercial and aimed at readers rather than publishers: a portion of the reading public is held to pass over books by women, so a man's name is adopted to reach an audience that would not otherwise pick the book up.