Dearest, Darlingest Kikkan,
We of the blogging community feel strongly that you should take as surname the venerable Canadian name of Ellis, that of your intended. We support this course of action for several meritorious reasons:
1. Everyone else does it. Sure, there may have been a time when it was in vogue to retain your own surname, but now about 90% of married women take their husband's last name. The exact percentage may be disputed but it's basically everyone.
2. Next season having a new name will give you the advantage of being the unknown athlete on the line. No one will expect that Kikkan Ellis is a wicked fast skier. The only people who might guess are your friends on the World Cup circuit that know you're getting married, people who recognize you by sight, people astute enough to hypothesize that maybe if the girl's first name is Kikkan then it's the same Kikkan even if the last name changes. But at least you'll fool a few people for the first weekend!
3. Lucy Stone is so 1970's. There's bigger political statements to be made than not changing your name. Let's start an earnest dialogue about our carbon footprint instead.
4. "In a 1997 study of more than 10,000 Midwesterners, men thought women who kept their surnames were more likely to work outside the home, less likely to enjoy cooking, less likely to attend church and-- this is the clincher-- less likely to make good wives," according to Diana Boxer's research at the University of Florida. Ontario's basically the Canadian version of the midwest so I bet you'll be a better wife if you change your name! (How's that for cold hard logic?)
5. Changing your name will be a fun summer activity for you-- changing your passport, your driver's license, your social security card, all your contracts, your bank accounts.
In conclusion, Marlis Hellinger, a linguistics professor at the University of Frankfurt/Main, said naming practices are a "central issue in research on language and gender. Boxer’s important contribution focuses on questions of change and explanations, but also opens up the field to include cross-cultural perspectives." (I quote because I don't understand well enough to paraphrase.) Kikkan! Become Mrs. Kikkan Ellis officially. We the anonymous mass of humanity pinging around the blogosphere have made our desires known.
p.s. Congratulations.
1. Everyone else does it. Sure, there may have been a time when it was in vogue to retain your own surname, but now about 90% of married women take their husband's last name. The exact percentage may be disputed but it's basically everyone.
2. Next season having a new name will give you the advantage of being the unknown athlete on the line. No one will expect that Kikkan Ellis is a wicked fast skier. The only people who might guess are your friends on the World Cup circuit that know you're getting married, people who recognize you by sight, people astute enough to hypothesize that maybe if the girl's first name is Kikkan then it's the same Kikkan even if the last name changes. But at least you'll fool a few people for the first weekend!
3. Lucy Stone is so 1970's. There's bigger political statements to be made than not changing your name. Let's start an earnest dialogue about our carbon footprint instead.
4. "In a 1997 study of more than 10,000 Midwesterners, men thought women who kept their surnames were more likely to work outside the home, less likely to enjoy cooking, less likely to attend church and-- this is the clincher-- less likely to make good wives," according to Diana Boxer's research at the University of Florida. Ontario's basically the Canadian version of the midwest so I bet you'll be a better wife if you change your name! (How's that for cold hard logic?)
5. Changing your name will be a fun summer activity for you-- changing your passport, your driver's license, your social security card, all your contracts, your bank accounts.
In conclusion, Marlis Hellinger, a linguistics professor at the University of Frankfurt/Main, said naming practices are a "central issue in research on language and gender. Boxer’s important contribution focuses on questions of change and explanations, but also opens up the field to include cross-cultural perspectives." (I quote because I don't understand well enough to paraphrase.) Kikkan! Become Mrs. Kikkan Ellis officially. We the anonymous mass of humanity pinging around the blogosphere have made our desires known.
p.s. Congratulations.
posted by LAV at 16:28
2 Comments:
I think that the Canadians were voting multiple times to throw off the results. That said, congratulations to Kikkan whatever she decides!
Yup us Canadians are trying to steal Kikkan away from the U.S….Special agent Jeff ‘the hotness’ Ellis has carried out his mission perfectly. First it’s the last name, then dual citizenship, next thing you know there’s a Kikkan/Sara Renner or Chandra Crawford sprint relay team in 2010!
On a side note, Laura: Ontario is not the Canadian equivalent of the U.S. Midwest (even though it is geographically right above the Midwest). We actually refer to Ontario and Quebec as central Canada (even though it’s really not in the center, we’re just really bad at geography) and Ontario is the most populous province in Canada and one of the most progressive – definitely not the ‘Heartland’ of Canada. Strange how things can be so different yet so close together…
Je pense que votre blog est fantastique et Je t'aime
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