The practice of a woman taking a man's name is a bit outdated to me. I think by taking the man's last name it is somehow taking a way from the woman, because she if forced to ditch her last name. I think that this practice could be improved if either the man or the woman could grant their last name to their partner. And if both parties decide that they like their current last name, then I believe that they should keep it. All in all, I think that practice should be optional. I can't really understand why people would be outraged when a woman does not take a man's last name because 1. just because it is straying from the popular tradition doesn't mean that it is horrible and 2. it is not their business. I think that a lot of problems in society could be fixed if a lot of people just minded their own business. Overall, changing your name should be optional, and not shunned when the woman chooses to keep her own last name.
I completely agree. The tradition while outdated, is something we have come to accept growing up. But why does that mean that anybody who chooses to go against it is at fault. Also, I really like that you made the point about it not really being anyone's business. Why should societal pressures delegate whether or not I change my last name when I get married. And for someone to be outraged at the fact that you haven't abided by this tradition is unjust. Changing your last name doesn't hold the same meaning it did a while ago, so why should we, as a society, ignore the change and rather criticize each other for women being "submissive" when in reality, the ones who criticize are the most submissive of all...to ignorance.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is outdated and that choice is a good thing. At the same time, I think there is a responsibility to not just make choices for ourselves, We should think about the bigger picture of what it says about our society. Yes, we should allow lots of choices and options. So when a tradition like a name change only goes one direction (only women change names), it has meaning beyond an individual choice because we don't make choices in a vaccum. Society is still sexist and influences our choices even if we aren't aware of it.
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