The Name Game

In marriage, the option to change a woman's last name to that of her husband always comes up. Recently, women have been keeping their own last names because of convenience for work purposes and maintaining their own identity. Women are more independent now than they used to be; there, I said it! Feminism has been/is being fought for and over the years, women have developed their own rights and lives.

Before, females were expected to be a housewife and weren't given a specific identity. Changing their last name was almost meaningless as they had no distinctiveness to lose. Now, women aren't confined to one lifestyle and each person develops their own singularity. Keeping their name is holding onto their identity because all their accomplishments were made under their own name, not that of their husband's. If they were to change their last name, it would be like erasing the slate, or even transferring their accomplishments to their spouse instead of keeping them as solely their own.

Some women find it easier to change their name so that their family has the same last name all around. On this point, couples planning for families may be more likely to share the same last name simply for convenience. Even then, they could use the wife's name instead of the husband's. Couples more involved with work may not concern themselves with changing last names and may not consider it a big deal. After all, it is the 21st century. Times are changing. The idea of taking the husband's name is just a tradition from when men were considered superior to women, so why keep it?

This is What a Feminist is Like (maybe?)

Recently, the subject of feminism has become more prevalent. Stereotypes have been developed of  "feminists" because of the women who support women/men equality and fight for it with a passion. At times, it seems like feminists are fighting for the social/political status of women to rise above that of men, not just reach equality. Some people get so passionate that catching you saying that you aren't as  eager to adapt to their idea of what a woman should be is seen as being anti-feminist. Personally, I think that as feminism gets more of an audience, there is an increase of pressure on women to be more like men. The less masculine we are, the more we drift back towards being seen as feminine, which society expects us to want to avoid.

Reading the article on Kaley Cuoco's comment regarding her stance on the topic and seeing the hate she received for her own opinion proves society's expectations for all females to band together and go against their stereotypes. The article, along with it's comments, also proved that expressing your opinion on this topic does nothing but bring ill-will. We aren't free to do anything that's remotely relatable to our cliché- not without receiving criticism, that is. If an action of ours proves our stereotype correct, we're supposed to feel like we did something wrong. I'm all for equal rights for men and woman, but can't we be free to be ourselves? Equal rights should mean that we can determine what we believe in and do for ourselves instead of being told what our sex is restricted to in order to maintain a certain social image. Feminism is good, we just have to be mindful about the way we go about securing our rights.

(The stereotype, but a stereotype is true- just not the full truth. Feminists aren't bad but the way some of them act scares off others. If a feminist is trying to spread their beliefs and get equal rights, why adopt means of putting down other's ideas and verbally abusing them?)

To leave you on a happy note, here's a feminist that is not-so-intimidating:

 

What are your thoughts? In your discussions with friends, Internet-surfings, late-night Tumblr reads, or listening to someone else talking about feminism (it's OK, we all eavesdrop sometime), what opinions have you developed on the topic?