Tuesday, May 6, 2008

This Chick is Hardcore

Um, whoa. It always surprises me when women attack other women like this. I don't know why; maybe because my women friends are awesome.

Some of the most interesting quotes:

Women who choose not to take their husband's surname after marriage are not sexually attracted to them, and will likely be the one to initiate divorce.

When a woman feels metaphysically submissive to a man, when she admires all the masculine qualities he exhibits and deems him worthy of submitting to, sexually speaking, she will gladly become "his" and take his name. This is the essence of femininity.


I don't know about this "essence of femininity" crap. Femininity = being submissive? What century are we in? And yet, I agree with her here:

Any woman whose self-esteem is so precarious that it hinges on which surname she attaches to herself has bigger problems to worry about. What should be offensive to women is the suggestion that we are so insecure, so unsure of our place in the world, that we cling to trivialities like surnames and titles like Ms. as if they represent our very souls.

However, it feels a bit like propaganda for some anti-feminist agenda. I give you the following as evidence:

In certain Middle Eastern countries, it is forbidden for a woman to take her husband's name when she marries. Forbidden. And why? Well, in a country that makes women wear head to toe black garb and where a woman can be killed by her family for even the merest hint of so-called impropriety, it's not hard to surmise that the real reason they exclude women from their family names is because they believe women would pollute them, and don't deserve to use them. Is there a connection there? I believe there is. Men in that country understand that offering someone your name is an honour, an honour that they unfortunately don't wish to grant their wives.

It's very convenient to bring up the Middle East and make assumptions about the culture without doing any real research, huh?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Whoa is right. To me, having to lash out at other women and put them down because they act differently from you is a LOT more insecure that keeping your own damned name after you marry.

Some husbands don't *want* submissive little wives, thank you very much! And in my opinion, *they* are the ones secure in their masculinity.

(Not saying you are being submissive by changing your name. Just saying she has an awfully simple picture of marriage, masculinity, and femininity.)

Bellybee said...

Oh, I agree. I read some of her other articles and was floored by all of the vitriol. Although I was interested to read that she was pro gay marriage.