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

in nature, its argument does not weaken, but instead strengthens it to relate more to the reader. Without her personality reaching through to grab the reader, Filipovic’s argument could be completely lost and misunderstood. The way she writes is relatable and inquisitive pushing the reader to agree with her perspective without being too aggressive.
The piece, which argues against the changing of last names, begins with the illustration of social media being flooded with names the author can no longer recognize, because they are now married.

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

theirs?”.
The way Filipovic examines the reasons behind women’s likelihood to change her last name rather than her husband changing his, involves many statistics and excuses she has encountered in the past. Specifically, she found that “ten percent of the American public still thinks that keeping your name means you aren’t dedicated to your marriage” and “fifty percent of Americans think you should be legally required to take your husband’s name” which is obviously a huge piece of her argument (Filipovic). These statistics, though radical, further prove Filipovic’s argument that this society is stuck in its ways. Women’s suffrage happened in the 1920’s yet, today in 2017 there are still feminist movements taking place all over the world to give women equal opportunities to succeed. By taking away pieces of their identities somewhat implies that women are “inferior” to men. The various reasons Filipovic refers to in her piece like “we want our family to share a name”, “his last name was better” or “my last name was just my dad’s anyway”, emphasize to the reader that none of these reasons make any legitimate sense (Filipovic). And none of them answer the question, why do men not change their last names instead? She destroys these “sexist” reasons and examines the true reasons why a woman might want to change her name. By condemning any reasons a woman may have for changing her own name rather than the man changing his, Filipovic convinces even the most conservative mind to question the tradition’s legitimacy.
In her informal nature of writing, Filipovic connects with all readers by telling women to push back on the “gender norms”, to give their children their mother’s name and not the father’s, and drawing the comparison of marriages years ago to marriages today to create a convincing argument.

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

point.
In the end, Filipovic relates to readers by connecting the “name” argument to a current social media platform, Facebook. By changing a woman’s name, one is making it harder for social connections to find her, eventually limiting the resources she could use to be successful in today’s day in age. The way Filipovic persuades even “non-feminists” to understand that stripping a woman of her last name takes away some of her pride, heritage, and potential success truly shows how compelling her argument is overall.
Though to some people, Filipovic’s argument may seem a little far-fetched, her arguments and opinions are all clearly heard throughout her work. The fact that “somewhat upwards of 90% of women do change their names when they get married” is an astounding number and begs readers to examine why that is (Filipovic). Her informal yet informative tone throughout the piece allows readers to connect with the facts they are processing, along with finding a deeper question as they think to answer her rhetorical ones. Her examination and criticism of sexist excuses, along with her radical statistics persuades readers to see her feminist perspective and ask themselves the question— “why do men not change their names instead?”