What “Archive of Our Own” Refers to
I just saw a bunch of “Stop shoving your feminism in my face” type comments on that other post. So I’m going to be pedantic and point out, yet again, where the name came from.
Astolat’s post proposing an archive was titled “An Archive of One’s Own”. This is a reference to A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf, which is described on Wikipedia as:
“An important feminist text, the essay is noted in its argument for both a literal and figurative space for women writers within a literary tradition dominated by men.”
Astolat called for name suggestions for the archive. Nobody ever came up with anything more popular than the original reference, and the slightly modified ‘Archive of Our Own’ stuck.
AO3 welcomes people of all genders, but the very name itself is a reference to feminist thought and female writers. This should be–but isn’t–obvious to many fans today.