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?