As many of you know, I got married over a year ago and while I hadn't thought that much about it, I've spent the last year working up to changing my name. What a painful process!
I know full well that the Tall Guy could give two hoots about what I did with my name, but finally, after the 5th or 6th (or 12th...) time of having confusion about what name a given joint account was under (vet, car repair, etc.etc.etc) I decided to bite the bullet and today was my big adventure to shed the name.
Truth be told, my now maiden name has never held a big place in my heart. That part of our family is small, and really with a first name of Pia (a family name), I'm somewhat convinced that half of the people I know rarely even ever use my last name. Still, it feels a little funny to suddenly have to start signing my name with four less letters and three less syllables. When hyphenation was suggested, all I could do was laugh! Talk about painful!
Anyway, when the decision came down to it, I really don't see my feminism as defined by retaining my last name. As the man at the bank quipped today "So you're just changing from one man's last name to another", the whole thought was put fully into perspective.
Thanks, Edwin at the bank.
Huh! I never really thought about it THAT way! Yes, thank you very much, Edwin!!! Hmpf!!
ReplyDeleteI have to say, I'm with Edwin. I have a friend who firmly believes in either retaining your maiden name or hyphenating. So if your kids have a hyphenated last name, and they marry someone with a hyphenated last name, should they then hyphenate to 4 last names? Drop a couple names? Whose? --Mom's or Dad's? Where does it end? I'd rather just keep it simple.
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