Half of Americans think women should be legally required to take their husbands' last names.
As an engaged woman, I was both surprised and appalled when I read an article on The Stir stating that 50% of Americans believe it should be legally required for a woman to take her husband's last name. My first thought was: Who took this survey anyway, a bunch of people from Middle-of-Nowhere America (no offense, really) who've been completely cut off from the modern world?
To take his last name, or not to take his last name? That is the question.
It's an age-old tradition that has been followed, seemingly without too much protest, for years. For most, making the switch to their husband's last name is exciting; a sort of "final seal" on the lifelong vows you've made. But many women are challenging this tradition nowadays, especially those who are less religious and more educated.
Lauren Bush Lauren joins the long line of married ladies who've made unflattering name changes.
Lauren Bush, the model, designer and philanthropist niece of George W. Bush, is getting married. To David Lauren, the son of Ralph Lauren. And she is planning on taking her husband's last name making her ... Lauren Bush Lauren. How far would you go for tradition? Would you change your last name upon getting married if it would become something kinda wonky?
Madame Noire investigates what people think about switching up an age-old marital tradition.
It seems clear that we are in a time where gender roles and expectations are rapidly being redefined and altered. Although these new definitions are, no doubt, giving both genders some more freedom, are they simultaneously making a handful of people a bit more uncomfortable as well? Madame Noire took to the streets to try and discover just this. They interviewed several New Yorkers to see how they'd feel if a husband, instead, decided to take a woman's last name. You won't believe some of their responses.
He wants me to take his last name, but I'm attached to my own.
If you want to change your name, that's great (plenty of women are happy taking their husbands' names and they shouldn't be knocked for it). But if you clearly don't want to, and if you start making huge sacrifices now just to appease your man, you'll be setting up expectations for your marriage you may live to regret.
Married name or maiden name: your choice, not the government's says one naming expert.
Seventy percent of Americans think it's beneficial for women to take her husband's last name when they marry, while half say the government should require women to change their names when they marry, according to a new study by researchers from Indiana University and the University of Utah. But it's dangerous to buy these headlines hook, line, and sinker. Before you schedule your move to Canada, let's get one thing straight: Academic research on the topic of married names is limited, but it points to increasing use of and positive perceptions of nontraditional last names, NOT to scary scenarios like government mandated married names.
Forgetting dating rules. Passing out after your wedding. And changing your name.
Is the word "cougar" too derogatory to keep using? What happens when we throw out the dating rules? Sometimes brides get drunk and wake up in a crate of vodka. Some lube news (finally). Some women think you should have to change your name once married. The cascading effect of talking sexy on Saudi TV is felt by a local station. Some men prefer to marry pillows, get over it.
I don't feel a pressing desire to "prove" to myself or anyone else that I won't change, that I won't compromise anything, because at some point I'm sure I will. (Isn't compromise a big part marriage, after all?) But I'm also certain that while bits of my identity are bound to shift, just as I would expect them to with any big life change and new perspective, the core of who I am will remain the same. No new name, white dress, ring on my finger or any other traditional convention is going to change that. For better or worse, I am who I am and I'm pretty solid in my identity. So when I read a column in the Guardian recently by Abigail Gliddon, a woman who claims "when a woman takes her husband's name, she surrenders her former identity and adopts his," I wondered how she came to have such low expectations for other women.
After a divorce do you go back to your maiden name... or devise a new one?
Changing your name is something we associate with getting married—should you keep your maiden name or take his name? But there’s another LoveStage that deals with shifting monikers as well—getting divorced. If you took your husband’s name when you married, you may want to slough off his name after the breakup. But what do you change it to?
The pros and cons of taking his name or keeping your own.
It's time to play the Name Game. We don't mean that old song from the 60s with the Frankie Frankie Bo Bankie Banana nana something or other routine. We mean the eternal question that faces every bride-to-be: So....are ya changing your name?
