In this theoretical paper, we argue that creative work is inherently gendered and that existing gender theories do not fully account for women’s marginalization in this context. We develop a theory of gendered creative work that reveals a gendered paradox: the forms of novelty most often legitimized are coded as masculine, making women’s deviations from the status quo less likely to be recognized as “true” novelty. At the same time, the relational labor central to creativity is coded as feminine and therefore less likely to be seen as creative when enacted by women. We label this dynamic the gendered creativity loop, which channels women into forms of novelty that are more legible as feminine yet less legitimate and more vulnerable to backlash.