Chicago Tribune: Barack's rock- Michelle Obama

[Colobo]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-0704220038apr22,1,1864749.story?track=rss

Michelle Obama is a wonderful woman.

By the way, I don't like it that in this country wives adopt their husband's last name. Why can't they keep their last names and the children have both last names?

[gaspee]

1. Because women are property

And if you point this out, you are a "radical"

Women and children are historically and culturaly the property of the husband/father in Western Civ. Changing naming conventions would go towards changing that.

[Richardo]

2. That's true - I put my wife up as collateral for a bass boat loan

"Women are property" :eyes:

Prove this is so. MY wife would kick your ass for even implying that she's my property.

[gaspee]

5. Sigh

I don't know if you are intentionally misreading, if I wasn't clear, some combination of the two or none of the above.

It's very easy to point to a single life and say "not like that" but I'm talking culturally and historically, here. Naming conventions are a small sample of historic and cultural truth.

And many men in our culture still consider women and children their property. All you have to look to for examples are fundies, and the multitude of men who commit violence against women (and their children) for daring to leave them.

Once again, not all people are going to fit into this.

And I do think that changing naming conventions will, in the long run, help to change our culture. Words matter. Ask a linguist. Or Kkkarl Rove.

[Richardo]

6. That's a lot of qualifiers for the blanket statement "Women are property"

Next time tone down the hyperbole. Generalizations are offensive, no matter WHAT side they come from.

[MonkeyFunk]

3. So your children have two last names

your grandchildren would have 4, your great-grandchildren 8, etc. etc.

[Colobo]

4. Of course not... you haven't been in contact with the Spanish speaking world, haven't you?

My name is Roberto Jiménez Arroyo. Let's say I marry some woman named Rachael Robinson. Then our family would be the Jimenez Robinson family, and our children would have those two last names.

If one of our kids, Leonardo Jiménez Robinson, marries Margarita López, then their children would be Jiménez López.

It's quite simple: the children inherit the first last name of both parents, so that both parties are represented.

[MonkeyFunk]

7. so

the matriarchal name disappears just one generation later than in the current US system? Big deal.

[Colobo]

9. Anyway, Michelle Obama is a great lady and that's what truly matters.

[Vinca]

8. Michelle Obama would be an amazing first lady. nt

[Cha]

10. They don't have to adopt their

husbands' names but it helps if you're running for Prez.

Michelle Obama sounds like she could be Prez and I applaud her intelligence and accomplishments but I'm wondering how smart it is to be sitting on walmart's board? I don't know the specifics but it seems like a conflict of her husband's interests and the interests of working people he is trying to help?

Sounds like Obama quit smoking since he's running for Prez? I am so happy for him and his family.

[illinoisprogressive]

11. I just love her. She is so witty, elegant, successful, warm and classy.

[fudge stripe cookays]

12. Um...

because I love my husband and enjoy sharing the legacy of his name?

[Colobo]

13. Cultural differences

As a man, I don't want my future significant other to carry my name. She has her own.

A Latin American thing...

[earthlover]

14. I have a radical proposition...

I can't see the point in a male giving up his last name in order to be married. I find it equally puzzling why a woman would give up her last name to be married.

So...one solution would be for both to keep their original last names if they want . So the couple would just be that, a couple, and love each other, and all of the rest, but the names stay the same. Gee...is this rocket science? Can we really do this? Well...duh...

The problem is with the kids, what last name they get. I propose a simple solution to this. And this is not sex biased. Which ever parent is gonna spend the most time raising the kid is the one who is going to impart their name. So, if the mother is gonna spend more time with the child, the child gets her last name. If the father spends more time, then the child gets his last name. Call my proposal merit-lineage!!!

OK...another world problem easily solved. Next? LOL

[illinoisprogressive]

15. sometimes you take your husbands name because it is cooler than yours. lol

[FrenchieCat]

16. She's more than Impressive! She knows how to do politics while

keeping it real!

She's got "it"...just like her hubby! :thumbsup:

[karynnj]

17. Many woman change their name dropping their middle name

so they end up with their first name, maiden name and their husband's last name. My mom did this in the 40s - so it's not new.

In my case, I married in my 30s, and that was a good solution - we wanted kids and one last name made sense. Friends of ours created a new name by taking part of each of their last names to synthesize a new name that had parts of each of their names.

[Colobo]

20. I'm very passionate about that. I would never let my future wife adopt my last name.

She's not my property, and our kids should have both last names. That's a tradition I won't give up just because I live over here.

By the way, viva Michelle Obama.

[karynnj]

21. That makes sense

because it is your tradition. It also gets around the problem I had. I had worked for 13 years and had an established reputation when I got married. Had I simply switched to my husband's names - many people would not connect "me" with the "different named me" - so I used my full name - including middle name (maiden name) for years.

This was a compromise I chose. This was the 80s and I had friends who kept their maiden names. One couple then gave the mother's last name to one kid, the father's to their second.

You are lucky to come from a tradition that already has a solution to this.

[politicasista]

18. She is good lady

I would never bash her to promote others. Just sayin.

[Cameron27]

19. I just love her.

She's genuine. (also an intelligent, beautiful woman with a kick-ass sense of humor)