Should Women Change Their Names?

Here's a blanket assumption (referring to women who change their names after marriage):

I've got news for you, girls. If you let him stamp his name on you, he is boss.

But, is this true? My answer: NO! Not always.

It always comes back to choice. First of all, a man is not stamping his name on me if I choose to take his last name. Also, it isn't as though I'm just taking his name--it is his family's name. However, if there is no decision making process going on, there really is no choice in the matter.

I think there are some major reasons why women should not change their name.

The Top Reasons Women Shouldn't Change Their Names:

1. Because everyone does it.
2. Because my husband/fiance wants me to.
3. Because I belong to him.

The Top Reasons Women Should Change Their Names:

1. Because I want to.
2. Because we decided it should be our family name.
3. Because I made this choice.

I didn't change my name to my husband's family name until after we had been married for two years. Before I made the decision to do it, my husband and I had a long talk about it. I didn't want to do it because it was traditional or because other people thought I should. Part of me wanted us to have the same last name so it could be easier for our children (I know to many hyphenated kids...or kids with a different last name from one of their parents, although both parents are married to each other).

I told my husband we had three choices: 1) I can take his last name; 2) He can take my last name; or 3) We can take a name together.

Well, neither of us wanted to choose a new last name. And, my last name became legally hyphenated when I was 18 (not by my choice), so I really liked the idea that I could choose my last name. I no longer wanted a hyphenated name--there is so much confusion in society when you have two last names joined together. What really made it easier for me to decide to use my husband's last name was that he agreed to consider changing his name to mine. The fact that we had a discussion about it and he was willing to consider changing his name as well really meant a lot to me.

Who knows? If I had a last name I wanted to keep or he had an awful last name or we both wanted to use a different family name, our choice might have been different.

But, as long as choice is involved, it is okay to change your last name when you get married.

No man has ever put a stamp on me. No man is my boss. No man owns me. I'm not cattle. I'm a woman with a mind of her own and I make my own life choices.

Live Longer, Have More Sex

Interesting article: As we age, sex is still fact of life, study says

The article is about a survey done on older age groups about their sex lives. Near the end of the article, they talk about how there are drugs now to treat sexual disfunction in men, but none for women. Now, is this really surprising? Hm...who has the power and the money? Men. Of course they are thinking about themselves when it comes to sex.
Okay, I'm not really that pessimistic, I am woman, hear me roar. But, it isn't surprising. Which is sad because we live in a time when this sort of thing is silly. Women's health and sexual practices should be getting the same amount of play as men. I mean, come on: unless the men are into other men, they need women to have sex with. It only follows that they should want women to have healthy sexual appetites too. Right?

Maybe they are scared. Women may become unstoppable if we can have true sexual freedom.

Wait, what the hell is sexual freedom anyway? If it isn't lack of time, lack of desire, lack of sexual funtionality, it is some crazy ass, life altering disease keeping us all from true sexual freedom.
Or, maybe just those little things called morals.
Whatever, the article is interesting. I'm happy to know that I'll be a grandma (maybe great-grandma) doing the wild thing! Retirement will have its benefits.

Top News Sources Misspell

These are some great (or gross) examples of some of our top news sources misspelling and/or using incorrect grammar.

read more | digg story

Exercise Plus Coffee May Ward Off Skin Cancer

Although it isn't definitive (but really, what is?), research shows that caffeine and exercise help fight skin cancer. Keep wearing that sunblock, but also go for a run and drink an extra cup of coffee.Anyway, check out the article--it's interesting.

read more | digg story

And...read this article if you want to learn about how Seattle is booming with sexpresso stands. That's right: get a good eyeful of cleavage when you order that healthy cup of coffee.

Man Drives 1300 miles to Burn Down Guy's Trailer in Online Feud

A Navy man who got mad when someone mocked him as a "nerd" over the Internet climbed into his car and drove 1,300 miles from Virginia to Texas to teach the other guy a lesson.This is like road rage on technological steroids. Chalk up another victory for those good old navy boys.

read more | digg story

Women Don't Really Talk More than Men

A new study reveals that men and women speak the same amount of words each day, negating the common idea that women talk more than men. "...LaFrance believes that prevailing notions of the "female chatterbox" have cultural and political roots based in sexism."

read more | digg story

Writing is like...

...a kitten who jumps on the counter.
The more he jumps
the better he becomes,
the higher and further he goes.
He grows, learns, practices
until he makes a clean jump,
a whur of fur and claws,
floor to counter to the highest spot of all:
on top of the fridge.

Wish I could be a kitten.