Three Reasons to Pause Before Taking Your Husband's Name

The Wall Street Journal ^ | Thursday, June 26, 2003 | TERRI CULLEN

[Xenalyte]

This is true. And I'm all about formality. I love it. Makes me feel all elegant and Victorian-like.

[Under the Radar]

Me, too, Miz Xenalyte. :^)

[Xenalyte]

Now that you mention it, "Miz" for those of us down South is a perfect way to address a lady of whose marital status one is uncertain. It could be either!

[ChemistCat]

Heh, says someone sneaking around under the cover of a name like "Under the radar." ;-)

[jethropalerobber]

Whipped.

sorry, i don't buy into all this 'war between the sexes' crap. marriage is not a power struggle, except to insecure losers like you.

but then you're not even married are you?

[Prof Engineer]

Euphemism for cattle droppings.

[fml]

Well, I took my husbands name when I was 22 and look forward the the day I can celebrate being alive longer with the name I chose over the name I was given.

[Under the Radar]

Heh, says someone sneaking around under the cover of a name like "Under the radar." ;-)

Well, "Unspeakable Coward" was already taken... =P

[texson66]

Especially that ONE!

[Ta Wee]

Why not just brand "Property of" on the foreheads of women with their husband's name so that no one has any questions?

[LizardQueen]

You're the one with the issues, bucko. So afraid of people having different views than yours that you have to crap all over them when they don't agree?

With your childish "Whipped" comments you've crossed the line from disagreement on philosophical grounds to immature personal attacks. Where is the expected "neener, neener"? Your posts seem incomplete without that.

No one is shitting on your and your spouses choice for her to take your name, even if they would do things differently. But those of us who went a different way would appreciate the same courtesy, something you are obviously incapable of.

Have a nice vacation (not).

LQ

[VermiciousKnid]

You make a valid point. People cannot address you correctly unless you give them the particulars.

When I was unmarried, I made a point of insisting that my letterhead read "Miss Jane Doe." That way, everyone who would be writing back to me would know that I preferred "Miss" to the odious(IMO) "Ms."

Now that I am married, my letterhead reads, "Mrs. Jane Smith," and the letterhead we use for joint correspondence reads, "Mr. and Mrs. John Smith."

I also hear you when you say that the title of "Mrs. John Smith" is frowned upon professionally. I only use that very formal title for personal correspondence.

BTW...I always thought that widows retained the right to be addressed as "Mrs. John Smith," while a divorcee is addressed as "Mrs. Jane Smith," unless she takes back her maiden name. Under NO circumstances should a divorcee call herself "Miss."

Regards,

[ChemistCat]

LOL!

[jethropalerobber]

And I am very happily married.

she must be a very special girl.

[msdrby]

If she is so concerned about HER name, she should follow her roots all the way back to the beginning, and take THAT name.

So that means doing a bit of genealogy on the maternal side, back to say the beginnings of America? Hmm, I can only get back as far as 1836 in Cannon Co., TN. While this is an interesting idea, our society is not prepared to put forth the documentation/records necessary on a such a wide scale. Do you realize how difficult it sometimes is and how many brick walls there are in finding such information from times when records were not always kept?