Essay On Sexism In America
Women in the past did traditionally change their last name to their husband’s last name. I absolutely do not refute that was due to women being viewed as the “lesser gender”. It essentially states that women do not have the brain capacity to choose for themselves and they needed a man to tell them how to live their lives and what to call themselves. It makes them out to be inferior. That a man defines the woman. Obviously this is morally corrupt and bankrupt and you would have to be an ignorant buffoon to still think this way. With the exclusion of the occasional sexist most people in the United States I personally don’t believe think this way anymore. Some people are more sexist others to a varying degree, but overall society has come a long
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way from what it used to be like.
Now to get back to the topic at hand.
A woman taking a man’s name back then of course had a sexist stigma behind it. It was originally put in place by a patriarchy. However I feel that that sexist stigma has fallen by the wayside a bit. I believe people do it now as some people like to have a “traditional approach” to their wedding. I personally have many friends where the woman has taken the man’s name, but she wasn’t forced into it. She chose to do that herself. As it is ultimately her choice because it is her name. I also have friends where the man has taken the woman’s last name. I also have friends where they chose a new name together or have hyphenated their last names to either represent their union and new lives together. I think the reason why some women take the last name of the man they marry has more to do with tradition than anything.
Despite the practice being rooted in a systemic sexism I don’t feel like it has the same meaning as it did before. It takes on a whole new meaning when a person chooses to take someone else’s name rather than when they are forced into it. I personally believe that tradition isn’t always a bad thing even if it once held a different meaning as long as that tradition isn’t harming anyone and the reasons for that tradition have evolved with the age in which it presides in a positive
way.
way from what it used to be like.
Now to get back to the topic at hand.
A woman taking a man’s name back then of course had a sexist stigma behind it. It was originally put in place by a patriarchy. However I feel that that sexist stigma has fallen by the wayside a bit. I believe people do it now as some people like to have a “traditional approach” to their wedding. I personally have many friends where the woman has taken the man’s name, but she wasn’t forced into it. She chose to do that herself. As it is ultimately her choice because it is her name. I also have friends where the man has taken the woman’s last name. I also have friends where they chose a new name together or have hyphenated their last names to either represent their union and new lives together. I think the reason why some women take the last name of the man they marry has more to do with tradition than anything.
Despite the practice being rooted in a systemic sexism I don’t feel like it has the same meaning as it did before. It takes on a whole new meaning when a person chooses to take someone else’s name rather than when they are forced into it. I personally believe that tradition isn’t always a bad thing even if it once held a different meaning as long as that tradition isn’t harming anyone and the reasons for that tradition have evolved with the age in which it presides in a positive
way.