There are a lot of things associated with the idea of marriage that I just do not agree with, and my name being changed is the biggest one. At 11:38 a.m. I was born, and my mother gave me the name, Makayla Danielle Richards. That’s my name, and I never want to change it.
When I decide to get married, I don’t want to take my husband’s last name because that seems like an inconvenience to me. I have to go and change my last name on everything, and my identity is tied to his. I want to be a Richards till the day I die, and I want my family name to live on.
People always try to get all uptight with me about it, asking about what the last names of my children with be. We live in a patriarchal society, people! My kids will have their father's last name, but my sons or daughters will keep that last name till he or she dies.
The children’s last name being the father's makes sense because you don’t want them having super long names. And there’s no way we are gonna switch it to a matriarchal system in the next 10 years so that they can have my name, so I’m just gonna have to lay my fist down on that fight, for now.
Though, there is a way that we can get rid of the insane responsibilities that we hold men to when it comes to tying the knot. Love is a two way street, and for a marriage to be always initiated by one party is ridiculous. The engagement is predominantly done by a guy, because of one reason: he buys the engagement ring.
I think engagement rings are a waste of money, and have become a fight for the biggest rock. I thought it was a symbol of love? So I don’t want one. Yea, I said it -- I do not want an engagement ring. This allows my boyfriend and I freedom to get married according to how we feel, instead of how much money he has for a diamond. And maybe I get to propose in some crazy elaborate way. Now, since he did not spend a large amount on a diamond ring, we can have that money to have a better wedding.
One last thing, I’m not going to accept another surname because Ms. Richards is who I am. Why are we still doing this Ms. and Mrs. thing? My husband does not own me. He is Mr and I am Ms, so deal with it. We live in these systems that need to be rewritten to reflect our new society, but people are too lazy to edit them. They rather yell at people like me about tradition. It was also tradition for women not to go to school, black people to use different restrooms and gay people to be sent to mental institutions.
Societal tradition is a way to conserve prejudices that our leaders are too lazy to deal with -- so fine, I’ll change them for you.
