James Tiptree, Jr., pseudonym of Alice B. Sheldon: Conventional reasons are doubtful when a pseudonym is still used after real name becomes known

“Alice Bradley Sheldon (1915–1987) was an American science fiction author better known as James Tiptree Jr., a pen name she used from 1967 to her death…it was not publicly known until 1977 that James Tiptree Jr. was a woman. From 1974 to 1977 she also used the pen name Raccoona Sheldon. Tiptree was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2012…

“In 1942 she joined the United States Army Air Force and worked in the…photo-intelligence group. She later was promoted to major, a high rank for women at the time…In 1952 she and her husband were invited to join the CIA, which she accepted. However, she resigned her position in 1955 and returned to college…She studied for her Bachelor of Arts degree at American University (1957–59), going on to achieve a doctorate at George Washington University in Experimental Psychology in 1967…

“As for her personal life, Sheldon had a complex sexual orientation, and she described her sexuality in different terms over many years…

“Unsure what to do with her new degrees and her new/old careers, Sheldon began to write science fiction. She adopted the pseudonym of James Tiptree Jr. in 1967. The name ‘Tiptree' came from a branded jar of marmalade, and the "Jr." was her husband's idea. In an interview, she said: ‘A male name seemed like good camouflage. I had the feeling that a man would slip by less observed. I've had too many experiences in my life of being the first woman in some damned occupation.’ Other pen names that she used included ‘Alice Hastings Bradley,’ ‘Major Alice Davey,’ ‘Alli B. Sheldon,’ ‘Dr. Alice B. Sheldon,’ ‘Raccoona Sheldon’ and 'Alli.’

“The pseudonym was successfully maintained until the late 1970s, partly because, although ‘Tiptree’ was widely known to be a pseudonym, it was generally understood that its use was intended to protect the professional reputation of an intelligence community official…Robert Silverberg wrote ‘It has been suggested that Tiptree is female, a theory that I find absurd, for there is to me something ineluctably masculine about Tiptree's writing’” (1).

Half way through her twenty-year writing career, her true identity of Alice B. Sheldon was discovered, but she continued to publish under her James Tiptree, Jr., pseudonym. Why? Was it only because the Tiptree brand was successful?

I am a quarter through her biography, from which I quote:

“…Alli had many sides or selves…Many artists feel they have another persona who does their work for them, a secret self very much unlike the ‘me’ of their daily interactions” (2, p. 5).

“Years later…she was thinking in a journal about a male side of herself she called Alex…Alex, Tiptree’s forerunner” (2, p. 85-86).

1. Wikipedia. “James Tiptree Jr.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Tiptree_Jr.

2. Julie Phillips. James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon. New York, St. Martin’s Press, 2006.