What are your thoughts on most of the world's naming systems?
In the majority of places around the world, women are typically expected to replace their own family/last name with their husband's family/last name upon marriage. Even where women typically keep their own names, the children of the couple are even more likely to be expected to adopt the father's family/last name. In cultures where the child is given both the father and mother's family/last names, the father's name is dominant, so when the kid eventually gets married to someone else's kid, the names that came from their father's side are the names that are passed on.
In the United States, more than three quarters of women do change their name to the husband's name upon marriage, and an even greater percentage have the children take the husband's family name. Usually, the mother's family name is only given to the child if her name is of major political importance compared to the man's and could be used for political leverage (like royalty, literal or cultural), or if the father is unknown.
I believe language is important for how people think about themselves and others. Much of this naming system has been enforced by law until recent decades, and in some places still is, though in most developed places is not. It's a remnant of the times when marriage contracts were essentially a property transfer from the father of the woman to her new husband. So Mr. John Smith marries Ms. Jane Jones, and they become "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", or even addressed as "Mr. and Mrs. John Smith", absorbing her written identity into his. Even the title of "Mr." doesn't change upon marriage, but "Miss" and "Mrs." are meant to openly indicate the woman's marriage state unless the ambiguous "Ms." is specifically used (which was a later invention to correct this imbalance).
Even in an increasingly egalitarian society, a guy would typically respond in an astounded manner if it is suggested that maybe he should change his name to her name upon marriage, or the child of the two should take the mother's name. I think this dramatically imbalanced expectation is a major piece of extant sexism in today's cultures: one is considered expected, the other is considered ridiculous, but why?
-Would you ever change your name based on marriage?
-What do you think is an ideal way to determine a child's family name? Should the child be named after the mother's family name, father's family name, both (and if so, which one passes on to his or her kid?), or should there be no cultural expectation and the couple should work it out? How would you work it out?
In the majority of places around the world, women are typically expected to replace their own family/last name with their husband's family/last name upon marriage. Even where women typically keep their own names, the children of the couple are even more likely to be expected to adopt the father's family/last name. In cultures where the child is given both the father and mother's family/last names, the father's name is dominant, so when the kid eventually gets married to someone else's kid, the names that came from their father's side are the names that are passed on.
In the United States, more than three quarters of women do change their name to the husband's name upon marriage, and an even greater percentage have the children take the husband's family name. Usually, the mother's family name is only given to the child if her name is of major political importance compared to the man's and could be used for political leverage (like royalty, literal or cultural), or if the father is unknown.
I believe language is important for how people think about themselves and others. Much of this naming system has been enforced by law until recent decades, and in some places still is, though in most developed places is not. It's a remnant of the times when marriage contracts were essentially a property transfer from the father of the woman to her new husband. So Mr. John Smith marries Ms. Jane Jones, and they become "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", or even addressed as "Mr. and Mrs. John Smith", absorbing her written identity into his. Even the title of "Mr." doesn't change upon marriage, but "Miss" and "Mrs." are meant to openly indicate the woman's marriage state unless the ambiguous "Ms." is specifically used (which was a later invention to correct this imbalance).
Even in an increasingly egalitarian society, a guy would typically respond in an astounded manner if it is suggested that maybe he should change his name to her name upon marriage, or the child of the two should take the mother's name. I think this dramatically imbalanced expectation is a major piece of extant sexism in today's cultures: one is considered expected, the other is considered ridiculous, but why?
-Would you ever change your name based on marriage?
-What do you think is an ideal way to determine a child's family name? Should the child be named after the mother's family name, father's family name, both (and if so, which one passes on to his or her kid?), or should there be no cultural expectation and the couple should work it out? How would you work it out?
