Today's Women Ditch Their Names
Signing your name away.
Studies done by Harvard University have discovered that more women are changing their surnames when they marry. The study found that 70% of women changed their surname when married as apposed to 30 years ago when it was nearly half that number.
The Sydney University of Technology puts the changing social trend down to the change in times and status of women. Dr Sarah Edelman, social trend expert says, ”It was a symbol of your own identity, it was a symbol for social trends at the time,” when asked about the 70’s inclination for women to keep their maiden names.
”Keeping your own surname in the 70’s was certainly a trend of feminism. It was about women wanting to keep their own identities", she stated.
In more modern times women are taking their husband’s name, following in the footsteps of many celebrities. Model Erica Baxter became Erica Packer when she married Australian media mogul (and son of the late Kerry Packer) James Packer. Even Madonna who is internationally famous for just her first name changed from Ciccone to Ritchie when she tied the knot with director Guy Ritchie.
Women are claiming to be taking the more traditional route for just that reason, “it’s traditional” is the explanation most often given when women are asked for the reasoning behind abandoning their family name.
In a day when women and men are supposedly equal, then women should be given the choice to change their surname. That’s what feminism is about, freedom of choice.
