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Skriv ut sidan - Were out of wedlock births encouraged in the 1840's in Sweden ?.
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Titel: Were out of wedlock births encouraged in the 1840's in Sweden ?.
Skrivet av: Kristina Gunnarsdotter skrivet 2002-03-06, 21:05
Aino! The aim of my contribution to this discussion is not to start a war, but to show the misunderstandings that might occur when people change their names, and above all when people take it for granted that every married woman in all countries and in all times have changed their name when they got married.
Habits very often have their origin in circumstances we would not accept today. Women earlier did not have the right to vote, to command their own belongings or to choose their husband. They did not even have a choice regarding their married name. In many respects they were treated like children.
You asked me why I did not choose a metronymic. Children are usually incapable of choosing their own names, and I received my name as a child, by my parents. Unfortunately I can no longer ask my parents why they did not give me a metronymic. If they had, my name would have been Ingridsdotter and that sounds nice.
Today as a grown up I have the freedom to chose another name if I want, in connection with marriage or not. But I see no point in it, as I am quite satisfied with my name. (And I definitely cannot see the point in introducing my husband every time I present myself, like i.e. Mrs Karlsson Svensson does. And in USA still many women are completely hidden under their men's names, like Mrs Robert Smith. In Talibancountry they are hidden under burquas. And to make people invisible is a subtle way of (do I dare to say it?) oppression.)