Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really do not think taking your husband's last name needs to be treated like some outdated or anti-woman thing.

The data still shows it is completely normal. Pew found that 79% of women in opposite-sex marriages took their husband's last name, while only 14% kept their own and 5% hyphenated. Even education does not change the overall picture as much as people assume. Among women with postgraduate degrees, only 26% kept their original last name, meaning most still either took their husband's name or combined names.

And this is not just a conservative or old-fashioned thing. Plenty of prominent liberal, educated, accomplished American women have taken or used their husband's last name publicly, including Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Jill Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, Kamala Harris, Gwen Walz, and Gretchen Whitmer. In younger/current culture, you also see examples like Hailey Bieber and Chrissy Teigen.

Obviously, if someone has a strong personal, professional, cultural, or family reason not to change it, that is completely fine. But for most people, sharing one family name is simple, practical, and meaningful. It does not erase anyone's independence, education, politics, or accomplishments. For many families, it is just easier and cleaner to take the name and move on.

No amount of "most women take their husband's name" changes the fact that the practice is sexist and implies the superiority of male identity. We would have just as many men taking their wives' last name if the practice was truly neutral.

A practice can come from tradition without every woman who chooses it today being oppressed or endorsing male superiority. Most women are not sitting there thinking, "my husband’s identity is superior to mine." They are thinking, "we are forming one family unit, this is the normal convention, and it is easier for our household and children."

Also, the fact that fewer men take women’s names does not automatically make every woman’s choice sexist. It just means the convention runs one direction. Lots of social conventions are asymmetrical without every person participating in them being morally wrong.

Women are adults. If a woman wants to keep her name, fine. If she wants to take her husband’s name, also fine. But declaring the majority choice of married women "sexist" is not feminist. It is just judging women for making a traditional choice you personally dislike.

Anonymous wrote:DCUM is overly liberal on this topic compared with how people actually think day to day. Even a lot of left-leaning people may say out loud that it is no big deal, but internally they still notice and make assumptions.

Fair or not, when a married woman has a different last name from her husband or kids, people may quietly wonder: is she divorced, is this a blended family, is there a professional reason, is she making a political point, is she difficult, or is there some narcissistic reason she could not just take the shared family name? They may never say that out loud, but people absolutely make those judgments internally.

That is why I think the Pew data matters more than hand-picked examples. Even among liberal Democratic married women, only 25% kept their last name. So even in liberal circles, keeping your birth name is still the minority choice.

And if we are talking about liberal women who fully took their husband’s name, not hyphenated or combined, there are still examples: Abigail Davis became Abigail Spanberger, Nicolle Devenish became Nicolle Wallace, Joy-Ann Lomena became Joy Reid, and Mary Sattler became Mary Peltola. It is still very normal.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really do not think taking your husband's last name needs to be treated like some outdated or anti-woman thing.

The data still shows it is completely normal. Pew found that 79% of women in opposite-sex marriages took their husband's last name, while only 14% kept their own and 5% hyphenated. Even education does not change the overall picture as much as people assume. Among women with postgraduate degrees, only 26% kept their original last name, meaning most still either took their husband's name or combined names.

And this is not just a conservative or old-fashioned thing. Plenty of prominent liberal, educated, accomplished American women have taken or used their husband's last name publicly, including Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Jill Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, Kamala Harris, Gwen Walz, and Gretchen Whitmer. In younger/current culture, you also see examples like Hailey Bieber and Chrissy Teigen.

Obviously, if someone has a strong personal, professional, cultural, or family reason not to change it, that is completely fine. But for most people, sharing one family name is simple, practical, and meaningful. It does not erase anyone's independence, education, politics, or accomplishments. For many families, it is just easier and cleaner to take the name and move on.

No amount of "most women take their husband's name" changes the fact that the practice is sexist and implies the superiority of male identity. We would have just as many men taking their wives' last name if the practice was truly neutral.

A practice can come from tradition without every woman who chooses it today being oppressed or endorsing male superiority. Most women are not sitting there thinking, "my husband’s identity is superior to mine." They are thinking, "we are forming one family unit, this is the normal convention, and it is easier for our household and children."

Also, the fact that fewer men take women’s names does not automatically make every woman’s choice sexist. It just means the convention runs one direction. Lots of social conventions are asymmetrical without every person participating in them being morally wrong.

Women are adults. If a woman wants to keep her name, fine. If she wants to take her husband’s name, also fine. But declaring the majority choice of married women "sexist" is not feminist. It is just judging women for making a traditional choice you personally dislike.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If he was surprised by the conversation, his first reaction may not have been the best reaction. Don’t blow this out of proportion.

Double barrel names aren’t common outside of certain cultures and they can be a burden.

This is a good chance to use communication skills that will serve you both well in marriage. Good luck!

Burden how?

Anonymous wrote:DCUM is overly liberal on this topic compared with how people actually think day to day. Even a lot of left-leaning people may say out loud that it is no big deal, but internally they still notice and make assumptions.

Fair or not, when a married woman has a different last name from her husband or kids, people may quietly wonder: is she divorced, is this a blended family, is there a professional reason, is she making a political point, is she difficult, or is there some narcissistic reason she could not just take the shared family name? They may never say that out loud, but people absolutely make those judgments internally.

That is why I think the Pew data matters more than hand-picked examples. Even among liberal Democratic married women, only 25% kept their last name. So even in liberal circles, keeping your birth name is still the minority choice.

And if we are talking about liberal women who fully took their husband’s name, not hyphenated or combined, there are still examples: Abigail Davis became Abigail Spanberger, Nicolle Devenish became Nicolle Wallace, Joy-Ann Lomena became Joy Reid, and Mary Sattler became Mary Peltola. It is still very normal.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tell him you’re keeping your own name and the kids that come out of your body will also have your name. (This is very normal these days.) He’s welcome to join if he wants consistency.

I already told him that and he didn't like it. He found the proposal offensive.

Red flag. Not someone I would marry.

I kept my name and don't see this a red flag on his part, unless you also consider it a red flag on OP's.

It's one thing for each partner to keep their birth names, it's another for one partner to demand that they use their ln for hypothetical kids or make up a new name. That's an ultimatum, not really a discussion. What would you say if the roles were reversed?

I think the red flag isn't so much people's stances as it is how they communicate. In the grand scheme of partner disagreements, this one really isn't that big of a deal. But how you handle disagreement matters.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really do not think taking your husband's last name needs to be treated like some outdated or anti-woman thing.

The data still shows it is completely normal. Pew found that 79% of women in opposite-sex marriages took their husband's last name, while only 14% kept their own and 5% hyphenated. Even education does not change the overall picture as much as people assume. Among women with postgraduate degrees, only 26% kept their original last name, meaning most still either took their husband's name or combined names.

And this is not just a conservative or old-fashioned thing. Plenty of prominent liberal, educated, accomplished American women have taken or used their husband's last name publicly, including Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Jill Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, Kamala Harris, Gwen Walz, and Gretchen Whitmer. In younger/current culture, you also see examples like Hailey Bieber and Chrissy Teigen.

Obviously, if someone has a strong personal, professional, cultural, or family reason not to change it, that is completely fine. But for most people, sharing one family name is simple, practical, and meaningful. It does not erase anyone's independence, education, politics, or accomplishments. For many families, it is just easier and cleaner to take the name and move on.

No amount of "most women take their husband's name" changes the fact that the practice is sexist and implies the superiority of male identity. We would have just as many men taking their wives' last name if the practice was truly neutral.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tell him you’re keeping your own name and the kids that come out of your body will also have your name. (This is very normal these days.) He’s welcome to join if he wants consistency.

I already told him that and he didn't like it. He found the proposal offensive.

Red flag. Not someone I would marry.

I kept my name and don't see this a red flag on his part, unless you also consider it a red flag on OP's.

It's one thing for each partner to keep their birth names, it's another for one partner to demand that they use their ln for hypothetical kids or make up a new name. That's an ultimatum, not really a discussion. What would you say if the roles were reversed?

I think the red flag isn't so much people's stances as it is how they communicate. In the grand scheme of partner disagreements, this one really isn't that big of a deal. But how you handle disagreement matters.

Anonymous wrote:I really do not think taking your husband's last name needs to be treated like some outdated or anti-woman thing.

The data still shows it is completely normal. Pew found that 79% of women in opposite-sex marriages took their husband's last name, while only 14% kept their own and 5% hyphenated. Even education does not change the overall picture as much as people assume. Among women with postgraduate degrees, only 26% kept their original last name, meaning most still either took their husband's name or combined names.

And this is not just a conservative or old-fashioned thing. Plenty of prominent liberal, educated, accomplished American women have taken or used their husband's last name publicly, including Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Jill Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, Kamala Harris, Gwen Walz, and Gretchen Whitmer. In younger/current culture, you also see examples like Hailey Bieber and Chrissy Teigen.

Obviously, if someone has a strong personal, professional, cultural, or family reason not to change it, that is completely fine. But for most people, sharing one family name is simple, practical, and meaningful. It does not erase anyone's independence, education, politics, or accomplishments. For many families, it is just easier and cleaner to take the name and move on.

Anonymous wrote:His reaction, although dramatic is mostly reasonable. Most women still take their husband's name and our society operates during the assumption that families will go by the father's name. This isn't different from women taking offense at men's suggestion to skip the ring. You're entitled to your name but this issue will likely be a tedious uphill battle for you as most men won't be happy with their wives keeping their names.