Acknowledging that it’s unusual, last week I posted my most plaintive plea yet that women consider giving their children their own names. I realize I’m speaking to a small group, since most women adopt their husbands’ names at marriage. But I didn’t realize just how apparently radical the idea is until I saw a blurb on research presented last week at the American Sociological Association annual meeting in San Francisco.
The original blurb I saw in the Detroit Free Press said that about 70 percent of Americans agree or strongly agree it’s beneficial for a woman to take her husband’s name. Disappointing and depressing enough. But when I did an online search to try and find the original research, I came across this UPI item that reported half the female respondents to the survey said the government should mandate women take their husband’s name upon marriage.
Are. You. Kidding. Me. I shall now take a deep breath, hope I hear back from the ASA pr folks, and hope to turn this into a teachable moment.
[...] the occasion of her death anniversary, I thought I’d revisit the name change study I wrote about in August that received some press when it was presented at the American Sociological Association’s [...]