It started with a simple tweet from Dr Charlotte Proudman, a British barrister and proud advocate for women’s rights.
“A message to pregnant women — please give the baby your surname. You carried a baby for nine months, gave birth, and will be responsible for that child for the rest of your life.
“When you’re registering the baby ask yourself: why is the father’s surname more important than yours?,” she wrote, highlighting the blatant patriarchy women are subjected to everyday, including when it comes to giving birth.
Little did she know it would spark a backlash from the online community, mostly from men.
I made this mistake. When I got married I wasn’t sure whether to change my last name or not to my then-husband’s last name. I really wanted to have the same last name as our potential children so I just changed my last name to “make things easier” so all of our last names would…
— Stacey Vaughn (@StaceyVaughn) August 12, 2023
Many married women came out in support of Proudman, saying that they wished they thought of this before getting married.
“I made this mistake. When I got married I wasn’t sure whether to change my last name or not to my then-husband’s last name.
“I really wanted to have the same last name as our potential children so I just changed my last name to ‘make things easier’ so all of our last names would match. I just went with the norms because it was ‘easier’ (easier for who???).
“In hindsight and with all that transpired, my kids would’ve been much better off if I had kept my surname and given it to them as well,” admitted one deflated mom.
But it was the comments and constant trolling from men that Proudman had to deal with, including the common thread of “the point is to make the father feel responsible for the child.”
Sticking firmly to her guns, she appeared on British TV shows and even went head-to-head against a father of four on ‘Good Morning Britain.’
During a heated debate with Dr Tru Powel, the 33-year-old academic asked, “Are you saying your surname is more important than the other?” while being of the opinion that the tradition is archaic and stems from children being seen as the “property of their fathers,” the Daily Mail reported.
“We have our own name and we have our own identity, and I think it's important to recognise that, rather than it being erased as a result of taking the father's,” she added.
Proudman’s powerful statements seems to have trigged thousands of women across the world.
A TikTok influencer picked up on her tweet and said, “women have been radicalised *not* to give their baby the father’s surname."
I’m a trend setter. And thanks to men’s comments (showing they believe we are their property), women have been radicalised *not* to give their baby the father’s surname. Thanks misogynists for helping me smash patriarchy! 👋 pic.twitter.com/fgfxjIAiJF
— Dr Charlotte Proudman (@DrProudman) August 15, 2023
IOL