Summary Of Why Should Married Women Change Their Names

The article “Why Should Married Women Change Their Names?” by Jill Filipovic brings out many interesting points in regard to the anti-feminist world yesterday’s society was raised on. Though, today interesting enough many people approach the same situations in the same ways- even though times have changed. Filipovic’s biggest point is to argue that women today are respected, adored, and above all- more than their marriage. Making the point to emphasize that the act of matrimony is about two people becoming one, yet it seems as if the “one” becomes only the husband. This piece takes time to ask the question, in today’s day in age, why should the woman conform to her husband’s last name rather than her own? Though this piece feels more informal

Filipovic then asks the question, “why does getting married mean giving up the most basic marker of your identity?” and starts her debate (Filipovic). She criticizes the “excuses” both women and men use to essentially convince women that they should give up a piece of their identities. And because of this, finds that many of these reasons fall short of a legitimate excuse, and convinces readers that as a woman, one should not change their identity simply because of a vow, and a man should not ask selfishly of his wife to do so either. Filipovic takes on a feministic approach which begs the question— “why men do not change

Specifically, she focuses on how love is the main reason for marriage in today’s society as opposed to economic or financial reasons from decades ago. Now, in other countries where women are oppressed, changing a woman’s last name obviously is not argued. However, in a country like America where women are supposed to have equal rights, it is not shocking that people like Filipovic question the legitimacy of the changing of a woman’s last name in 2017. This brings up an even bigger point-- how women see themselves. Filipovic explains it as if one “understand[s] that part of being a woman is subsuming [one’s] own identity into [one’s] husband’s, that impacts [one’s] perception of [oneself] and [one’s] role in the world”, making a woman ultimately feel inferior, after all, “[men] don’t grow up under the shadow of several thousand years of gender based discrimination” (Filipovic). The idea that in today’s day in age, a woman’s last name is still considered inferior to the husband’s is shocking, yet not difficult to believe for readers. But still, this one-sided debate continues to convince readers that she has a irrefutable