In today's day, I have observed an inherent clash in what is believed by parents, and what is believed by the daughter-in-law. And this clash holds true in some more of the more 'feminist' nations of the world as well.
A conversation with one of my closest friends, currently in the US, sparked this debate. In his words I quote - "She will take my last name after marriage - just the way it's supposed to be".
Now while I consider myself regressively progressive and not fully progressive (a spectrum discussion to be held at another time), I find the concept of a wife being forced to take the husband's name very inconvenient.
The primal reason for this belief is that girls these days have studied and traveled far more extensively than their counterparts in ye olde age (to put it very crudely). It becomes extremely inconvenient to have one last name be the marriage name, and another last name imprinted on the degrees, passport etc. Imagine having to produce a change of name certificate everytime just to prove that you are indeed the right person referred to. Status quo, the documents required are enough of a hassle. Add to this hassle a bureaucratic nightmare such as India, and we well and truly have insanity in the making. This case also holds true in matriarchal societies where the guy changes his last name as opposed to the girl changing hers.
Should the guy / girl want to change his/ her last name (for whatever reason - respect, love, tradition - I am not here judge), I won't dissuade him / her, but I would like to point out that retaining the maiden name makes logical sense, not from a feminist (or chauvinist) POV, but just from a common sense POV...
A conversation with one of my closest friends, currently in the US, sparked this debate. In his words I quote - "She will take my last name after marriage - just the way it's supposed to be".
Now while I consider myself regressively progressive and not fully progressive (a spectrum discussion to be held at another time), I find the concept of a wife being forced to take the husband's name very inconvenient.
The primal reason for this belief is that girls these days have studied and traveled far more extensively than their counterparts in ye olde age (to put it very crudely). It becomes extremely inconvenient to have one last name be the marriage name, and another last name imprinted on the degrees, passport etc. Imagine having to produce a change of name certificate everytime just to prove that you are indeed the right person referred to. Status quo, the documents required are enough of a hassle. Add to this hassle a bureaucratic nightmare such as India, and we well and truly have insanity in the making. This case also holds true in matriarchal societies where the guy changes his last name as opposed to the girl changing hers.
Should the guy / girl want to change his/ her last name (for whatever reason - respect, love, tradition - I am not here judge), I won't dissuade him / her, but I would like to point out that retaining the maiden name makes logical sense, not from a feminist (or chauvinist) POV, but just from a common sense POV...
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