[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Every cheesy film about teenagers in love features a young girl daydreaming, doodling hearts and tacking her crush’s last name onto her own on her school papers. These scenes demonstrates the issues with teenage love and our society in general: she is not only killing trees to selfishly prevent her boredom in class What a terrible person, killing trees!, but also furthering the patriarchal society present in the United States by promoting the belief that women should succumb to their husbands upon marriage.

This is an incredibly dramatic and somewhat sarcastic way of introducing the issue with feminism and marriage, but it introduces it nonetheless. When a woman marries a man, much like the love-struck teenager sketching in class demonstrates, it is assumed that the woman will take her husband’s last name. This is a tradition as old as marriage itself, and until recently, has been followed by the majority of citizens. However, actress Zoe Saldana and her new husband Marco Perego decided to approach the changing of names in an unconventional way – the former Marco Perego is now Marco Saldana. It has a nice ring to it.

Marco Saldana is what most would call a “manly man.” The native-born Italian was a professional soccer player for four years before retiring due to a leg injury, and now works as an artist with clients like Giorgio Armani. He has been given the nickname “The Pirate,” probably because of his long hair, beaded accessories and plethora of bracelets and tattoos that cover his arms. Even though he has worked incredibly hard through art to make a living for himself and market his own name, he gave up a portion of his perceived masculinity by surrendering his name and adopting his wife’s. That is the thing though – he actually benefited from changing his last name. Mr. Saldana is being praised for his support of feminism and progressivism across the nation. He has put aside his ego I’m not sure if there is an instinctive desire to be dominant with males, at least not all of them. i feel like this may be offensive to establish equality with his wife. Not to mention that he is the first celebrity to do so.

When a woman takes her husband’s last name, it has a much greater significance. If Jenny Sue marries Bobby Tim, then Jenny Sue becomes Mrs. Bobby Tim. This new identity is not really an identity at all – it is an extension of her husband’s. Jenny Sue has evolved into the female counterpart of her husband Bobby. She has adopted his name, his ethnic background and his history as a human on this earth, because a name is so much more than just a name, especially a last name. The last name is passed down throughout generations and contains hundreds of years of cultural and genealogical significance. Persons of a certain ethnicity will often have last names that reflect the career of their ancestors. Other last names indicate where the family is from. For some people, last names have survived wars, immigration, genocides and natural disasters, only to be lost when a woman is married. The importance of the last name cannot be understated, but it has been for the endless years in which women have surrendered their last name to their husband. But the same applies when a husband changes his name to match his wife, right? He also becomes an extension of her, and her cultural heritage; right? I get the point that’s trying to be made, but I feel like a sentence saying something along the lines of “The same is true for the husband if he takes the wife’s name, but being a far more rare occurrence, it doesn’t hold as much significance”

A woman changing her last name is definitely surrendering. Our society has allowed predominantly male inclinations to be expressed. Males are given jobs that require difficult schooling and work, while women are expected to sacrifice their potential career to provide for a family. Males are the leaders of countries, while their female counterparts simply create programs to further their husband’s agenda as a politician. A male cannot simply be married to a woman, but he must own her. Other people have to know that Jenny belongs to Bobby, because she carries his last name. This tradition began in a time where the roles of males and females were not nearly as equal as they are now. The fact that this tradition has continued for so long indicates the inequality that is still present between the two sexes. On the flip side, a man taking his wife’s name is him surrendering to her. I’m not seeing how taking the husband’s name is patriarchy while taking the wife’s name is equality

Until equilibrium between the sexes has been reached, there is no need for women to take their husband’s last name. Women possess a rich family history that should not end with marriage, but continue as the generations continue. However, if a woman genuinely wishes to change her last name to that of her husband’s, she should not be shamed or degraded. This is a tradition that has been adopted by most people in the world, and it will undoubtedly continue. However, women should not be expected to change their last name. It should not be assumed that a woman will surrender her family’s history and culture to please her husband. It is this assumption that is hindering the progression of America towards equality among the sexes. I see the point here now in the last paragraph; that a woman shouldn’t HAVE to change her name or be expected to do so, but then neither does a man have to. The connection with Mr. Saldana had confused me and led me to believe the point was that men should change their names, which is no more equal than women doing so

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