Open Letter to MySpace

[athene]

Dear MySpace,

Thank you for coming up with ways in which I can connect with people that I have lost touch with. However, I am offended at your assumption that I changed my name when I got married. I did not. In fact, my husband took my last name. Do you have a way for him to add in his former name in a way that is not going to be listed as "Maiden" name, because he was not a maiden? Former name would be more gender neutral and open to people who may have changed their name for reasons other than getting married.

Sincerely,
Athene

Comments

[procris.livejournal.com]

I've surprised several married couples by leading with a "and Ms...?" after learning the husband's name. I learned in college it was never safe to assume that A. she took his name, B. they were legally wed, or C. their names had anything in common at all.

Hell, there's a good chance it would ruin my career if I were to marry and change my name after I started publishing in Academia. It's hard enough to get people to cite you when you've got *one* name.

Although, since I've got one of the Most Common Names on the Planet, it might be nice to be somewhat more unusual...

[mtgordon.livejournal.com]

I never expected my wife to take my name when we married, especially knowing how she continued to publish under her original name during her first marriage, when she had theoretically taken her first husband's name. Academic publication was definitely an issue in her case.

She does have a rather uncommon last name, though given that she went into roughly the same field as her father, some confusion does occur. Her name is unfortunately also quite long -- twelve letters -- and includes a phoneme not typically found in English. We pretty much never put down her name for dinner reservations.