Name Changing

For those of you who keep emailing me about pics from the bus, they're coming. Until then....

A co-worker of mine brought this article to my attention. It seems that some number (I use this generic quantifier, because it's likely there are only a few idiots out there making a big deal about this) of men are taking their wife's name instead of the usual practice. While I am certain there are people out there who are bothered by this, I can't say that I care.

What I think is stupid is that it was worth having US Today pay someone to write about it. These people could change their names to Hugh G. Rection and (say it fast 3 times) Mike Hunt, and I wouldn't care.

There is no law that says a person can't change their name. Women have been keeping their own names and hyphenating after marriage since we started letting them go to college. And furthermore, how is it less sexist for the man to take the woman's name than the traditional way? Last time I checked, a woman didn't have to change her name when she got married, which means she made a choice to do that. All of this put together means that if you're a dude and you're taking your wife's name to make some kind of statement about sexism, you're only making the same statement in reverse, and you're the one being oppressed.

I guess if this were some sort of patriarchal nightmare society, where women were forced to take their husband's names without choice, this might be more interesting, but really it's just stupid. Why not change your name to Bobby My-wife-controls-every-aspect-of-my-life-sky or Steve My-life-is-so-boring-that-taking-my-wifes-last-name-is-the-most-subversive-act-i-could-think-of-son. Go protest something really harmful to women like the government or cheerleading or me when I was in college.