Guys! When you get married…would you change your last name to your wife’s last name?
Why not? Give me one good reason. Why should she have to do it? And don’t give me some patriarchal bullshit answer. I want a GOOD REASON! And don’t say “it’s different.” It’s not.
It’s funny that I came across This articleon one of the blogs I read. I just had a conversation with a guy on Saturday about this exact topic. He kept saying that he wouldn’t marry a woman that would not change her last name to his. I kept asking him why and all he could say is “Because, she’s supposed to.” Oh and he said that she’s supposed to do it because she’s HIS wife. I tried to explain to him that he doesn’t OWN her just because they get married. This fool said, “I do if I paid for the wedding.”
Now, I know that many people are traditional and they see no problems with a woman taking her husband’s name. I do not see an issue with it either. My problem is the fact that people get so upset when someone decides they do not want to go along with the norm. I mean, this article is from the UK and traditions in the U.S. still seem to be far more patriarchal when it comes to marriage. Why is it a big deal if a woman does not want to take her husband’s name? Her name is not Mrs. David Beckham. Her name is Victoria. Sure, she decided to change her last name to Beckham, but she is still an individual person with her own mind.
Marriage is supposed to be about unity, not ownership. There is nothing emascualting about taking your wife’s last name. There’s also nothing wrong with a woman decided that she wants to be defined on her own terms versus being in the shadow of her husband.
I think the changing of names is a good tradition and a fantastic way to say that you are “ONE.” I just hope that more and more men are starting to realize that they do not OWN their wives and that she is entitled to an opinion when it comes to changing her name. It should be about a partnership and not a factor that is decided by society’s standards. We are slowly seeing changes with this issue, but it is apparent that many people do not understand such a “nontraditional” decision.
What do you think?
