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 survey by researchers from Indiana University and the University of Utah. Responses were immediate. The Great Name Debate

"What women's lib?" asked a headline in the New York Daily News. "Taking away choice from something so wholly personal is quite another—and is one of those awful things that, like Michael Jackson's death, is initially shocking—and then, after a … Read More

Because it's awash in a sea of mediocrity, we sometimes forget that there are some good things on the interwebs. I've scoured the entire nets (it took a while) for the best of love and relationships today so you wouldn't have to. Here goes: 

Over at Lemondrop, our good friend standup comic Allison Castillo (pronounced "kast-ill-oh") is fed up with the term "cougar." The Courtney Cox fall television show Cougar Town isn't helping things. Hopefully, the Bill Lawrence-created (Spin City, Scrubs) sitcom will use the time-tested comedic technique of pointing out the painfully obvious and exaggerating it. Check out … Read More

Since I got engaged early last month and began planning a wedding for this summer, I've been thinking a lot about what it means to be hitched. As someone who already lives with her husband-to-be, I wonder just how much marriage will actually change things, whether I'll wake up the morning after the wedding feeling any different. I've also been thinking a lot about what kind of wife I want to be, what it means to be a "good" wife, and how — if at all — being a "good wife" could compromise my identity or personal needs and interests.I … Read More

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?

At Love Buzz’s Thanksgiving dinner yesterday we heard an interesting story from one of the guests, whom we’ll call S.  S was divorced and after she’d separated from her husband she’d changed her name. But she didn’t go back to … Read More

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?

Yuck. I hate this question, and so should every woman out there. Oh, I know I could go on and on about how lucky we are as women to have a choice about the matter these days, but to be honest, I wish we could just go by our first names and be done with … Read More