Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site dartvax.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!dartvax!mike From: mike@dartvax.UUCP (Mike Morton) Newsgroups: net.kids Subject: Re: What's in a name? Message-ID: <707@dartvax.UUCP> Date: Thu, 9-Feb-84 20:38:27 EST Article-I.D.: dartvax.707 Posted: Thu Feb 9 20:38:27 1984 Date-Received: Sat, 11-Feb-84 05:50:37 EST Distribution: net.kids,net.women Organization: Dartmouth College Lines: 29 [ . <- You are here.] About kids' last names... Mine is actually fake, taken by my dad's family upon immigrating. Not caring much for my name, I'd rather give a child my middle name (my family name, which I do care for) and the mother's last. [Aside: I didn't use "his/her mother's..." there, which brings up sexism in pronouns. Ursula LeGuin's novel "The Dispossessed" describes a world of no possessives -- saying "THE mother's" is the only way to say it.] A related issue is taking a spouse's name. How about swapping names? This comes up because I've heard of women who plan to take their husband's name, whether he wants them to or not! Were I to find myself marrying a woman who wanted my name, I'd insist on swapping, for symmetry. Naming girls for mothers (and boys for fathers) is bad; it enforces role models. Allowing a child to choose is worse. Coin-flipping? How about a coin flip to see whether children will take names from parents of the same sex or from the opposite sex? No -- then all boys (or girls) in one family have a common last name, a sexist division. One could coin-flip for the first, and alternate for each later child... (What about twins? :-) ) I think I like made-up names. And to avoid children getting names like "Moon-Unit Zappa" or "God", check out (again) "The Dispossessed": kids get random, unique names... from a computer. -- Mike Morton USENET: ..!decvax!dartvax!mike or ..!linus!dartvax!mike USMail: c/o Kiewit Computation Center, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755 (PS: Pardon this slow response; dartvax' news has been delayed.)