tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post3437291323480506427..comments2024-03-25T02:33:41.590-05:00Comments on FemaleScienceProfessor: UnchangingFemale Science Professorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15288567883197987690noreply@blogger.comBlogger71125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-74696299366100715092014-10-18T16:22:04.862-05:002014-10-18T16:22:04.862-05:00Whatever. 2014 update: I am still happy I did not ...Whatever. 2014 update: I am still happy I did not change my name. It is not complicated. Female Science Professorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15288567883197987690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-2118468904089545182014-10-16T12:36:55.411-05:002014-10-16T12:36:55.411-05:00Isn't it that having a hyphenated last name, o...Isn't it that having a hyphenated last name, or not changing it at all will be more complicated in majority of areas? I got married and I changed adapted my husband's surname. It's easier in all areas, in my honest opinion.Melissahttp://www.imamrs.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-76755065914231192732014-01-30T01:51:15.352-06:002014-01-30T01:51:15.352-06:00Thank you for this post.
I have changed my last ...Thank you for this post. <br /><br />I have changed my last name (back) to my Maiden name a few years ago.<br /><br />Two main things, I found to be hard. #1: I am not an American, and have a very difficult to last name. And where I come from, women are obligated to carry their husband's lastname by law. (No "keep the maiden name option) So I adopted my ex husband's last name - which was an easy one, got stuck with me and everybody remembered it.<br /><br />I hated him so much during the whole divorce process, that I decided to not to go on my life with his last name. So I went back to my maiden last name. And yes, I know feel that I am almost forgotten in the field! I am now the woman with a strange last name..<br /><br />I also was afraid that "now my secret is out". People will see me as a flaky scientist, or someone unhireable because I may have lost stability in my life.<br /><br />Still to date, even at presentations I am acknowledged on a first name basis, I always have to correct people from pronouncing my name correctly. I wondered, for a long time, whether I did the right thing by not keeping my married name, Somehow that was my science brand, and it is gone now... I found myself in the middle of a scientist identity crisis.<br /><br />#2 annoying point was (still is!) the emails I receive about my last name change. Yes, none of my female colleagues asks me these questions, but male scientists seem to be very interested in this and I receive(d) a lot of emails asking "why did you change your last name -- Is your husband OK?" (hint hint!). This question makes me very uncomfortable, why does this matter and isn't it obvious what happened? <br /><br />I am now getting remarried, and embarrassed to change my last name again because I dont want my colleagues to think I am flaky. So I won't have a last name change. I am keeping my last name as it is. I believe with my good work, people will remember my last name. If you think about it, Einstein is not such an easy name to remember after all! Besides, nobody said being a woman is an easy task.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-7448032865258920032012-12-09T16:26:58.339-06:002012-12-09T16:26:58.339-06:00Hi all! I'm new to this blog, and I'm loo...Hi all! I'm new to this blog, and I'm looking for some advice from women in academia. I'm pursuing my Ph.D. in a field in which author names are ordered alphabetically. I don't have any publications just yet, but I'm already thinking about the implications of my recent marriage on my research. When I legally change my name, I plan to replace my middle name with my maiden name (i.e., my new name will be "Firstname Maidenname Marriedname"). Unfortunately, my married name is much less unique than my maiden name is, and the first letter of it is much later in the alphabet. Consequently, if I publish under my new married name, I will probably never ever be listed as the first author and I'll be one of several researchers with the same last name in my field. In the grand scheme of things, this probably won't have any impact at all upon the success of my career. However, it's still sad to exchange a unique last name that appears early in the alphabet for a very generic last name that appears near the end of the alphabet. I know that many women use their maiden name in a professional setting and their married name in a personal setting, but I feel like this would just complicate matters when filling out paperwork and also lead to awkward situations when in the presence of both personal and professional acquaintances. Honestly, I would rather choose a full name and stick with it in every realm of my life. I also don't really want to hyphenate because I want to have children someday and I like the idea of sharing a family name. The best solution that I can think of is to publish under "Firstname Maidenname Lastname." This would help to preserve my unique identity while avoiding the complication of having different professional and personal names. Has anyone heard of a woman who lists her name like this on her publications? Any other advice?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-57374522551567568802010-04-07T22:28:02.241-05:002010-04-07T22:28:02.241-05:00I would not want to be in a position where if I di...I would not want to be in a position where if I did get divorced, I STILL have to answer to my ex-married name because I had important papers published under that name. I assume that almost everyone who divorces wants to make a clean break and start anew. Having your ex-married name follow you to the grave because it's on your publication record, is rather depressing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-42736000224813292392010-04-07T15:30:19.225-05:002010-04-07T15:30:19.225-05:00I , like Cheryl, changed my name from "First ...I , like Cheryl, changed my name from "First Middle Maiden" to "First Maiden Married" when I got married right after grad school. I had published under my maiden name, and as a postdoc, I published using my full "First Maiden Married" name. It didn't cause me any problems.<br /><br />However, at the end of my postdoc, I got divorced and changed my name back to "First Middle Maiden" and got hired as a tenure-track faculty member. I then met the love of my life, got married for a second time, and changed my name to "First Maiden 2ndMarried". I have publications under three last names now (or at least I will when these next three papaers go out!). <br /><br />I do worry about external reviews when I go up for tenure. Will people know that the "old" me is also the "present" me? I have a CV with a couple of footnotes, but when searching for my publications, I'm worried that some will be missed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-41507578859060599442010-04-06T19:24:14.330-05:002010-04-06T19:24:14.330-05:00I agree with the Anon@10:37...every time a woman c...I agree with the Anon@10:37...every time a woman changes her name to her husband's regardless of her own deeply personal reasons ("because I love him so much!".."because it's more convenient"..."because I want to show my loyalty to my husband and family"..."because I don't like my own birth name"..."because I want the approval of society...") it reinforces OTHER people's attitudes that they attach to this act. Seeing as how we live in a patriarchal society, it seems likely that whatever an individual woman's personal reasons are for taking her husband's name, it just doesn't matter to the larger society who doesnt' know or give a hoot about that individual woman as this reinforces what it means to themselves and themselves only. Seeing as how there are other options - keeping one's name, combining names, or both spouses taking a third name - for those other options to be less utilized and a woman to still end up taking her husband's name does seem to be perpetuating a status quo and baggage that goes with it. This perpetuates the existing patriarchal culture rather than changing it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-11398148564384198582010-04-06T10:37:49.500-05:002010-04-06T10:37:49.500-05:00Why do people get so snippy at the suggestion that...Why do people get so snippy at the suggestion that their personal choices have wider social implications? Of course they do. None of us live in a bubble.<br /><br />If I choose to only go out in public swathed from head to foot in black with no feature visible, it's my personal choice. But for some women, it's not their personal choice because cultural/social pressure pushes them into it. And I'm contributing to that pressure by appearing in the same mode of dress because I'm normalizing it. <br /><br />If I choose to include my research group head as an author on a paper even though he has had zero intellectual input, then that's my personal choice (because I have tenure). But for junior academics, it's not their personal choice because cultural pressure in my department pushes them into including their group head on every paper. And I'm contributing to that pressure by adding him as an author because I'm normalizing it.<br /><br />The more often someone is seen to follow a social mandate, even if it's for personal rather than cultural reasons, the more that mandate is reinforced. Those who have a vested interest in imposing the mandate will be happy you appear to be playing along and can point to you as an example of 'good behavior'. Same goes for name-changing on marriage, whether you like it or not.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-74237112496980788892010-04-06T10:03:37.160-05:002010-04-06T10:03:37.160-05:00I'm a woman who has changed her name. I made ...I'm a woman who has changed her name. I made my choice to get rid of my former last name. I love my parents and have a strong relationship with them. I respect myself as an individual. However, my old last name was "Smith". I now have an extremely unusual last name (for an American) and am MUCH easier to find in web searches and literature searches. It was helpful for me, professionally, to change my name because I am now so much easier to find. Plus I prefer the unique name to my former ubiquitous one.<br /><br />And another thing, I started using my married name prior to marriage in a scientific context because I didn't want to publish my thesis work under two surnames. It was only a few months discrepancy and was easy to do.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-51492114971075785402010-04-06T08:37:25.416-05:002010-04-06T08:37:25.416-05:00See Beth, it's not "wrong" it's ...See Beth, it's not "wrong" it's just "not unproblematic." Got it? I didn't change my name, but I get pretty annoyed at the type of feminist presumption that tries to tell women what decisions they should make on behalf of the cause.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-17281322126950196812010-04-06T05:48:42.936-05:002010-04-06T05:48:42.936-05:00NJA: thanks for the explanation of 'dual surn...NJA: thanks for the explanation of 'dual surnames'. I like it! Right now, patrilineal surnames follow y-haplogroups so it would be nice to have matrilineal surnames following mitochondrial haplogroups. It would certainly make genealogy a lot easier as we move around the planet as a species.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-83696346456731591592010-04-05T19:42:21.568-05:002010-04-05T19:42:21.568-05:00It's strange how emotional people get over thi...It's strange how emotional people get over this. There's a lot of judgement out there, going both ways. <br /><br />I kept my last name when I married. I could say it was for publications. I could say that if I changed my name then the family name would be gone (which is true). But mostly it's because it's my name and I just didn't want to change it. Imagine waking up married and saying, "ok, everybody call me Shirley now, I'm married!". It's just not who I am. *shrug*<br /><br />My son has my last name, and his second middle name is my husband's surname. Nobody in our families seems to care either way, so we're lucky. I don't know why everybody assumes the kids have to have the husband's name. They don't.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04251975730093353942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-43352956699899040502010-04-05T12:52:20.437-05:002010-04-05T12:52:20.437-05:00@ Anonymous 11:50
And yet in a previous post you s...@ Anonymous 11:50<br /><i>And yet in a previous post you suggest we should all use the system favored by Spanish speaking cultures, many of which are known for being extremely patriarchal.</i><br /><br />Yep, they are indeed pretty patriarchal.... which is why I said "<i>similar to</i>many Spanish-speaking cultures (and didn't suggest taking any other cultural norms on board). I outlined my preferred dual surname system in the post immediately below the one you cite, and it differs from the Spanish one in preserving both the matriarchal and patriarchal lines.NJAnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-65438155831509606042010-04-05T05:10:01.763-05:002010-04-05T05:10:01.763-05:00@ Beth
I'm not looking for a fight either - I...@ Beth<br /><br />I'm not looking for a fight either - I can agree to disagree with someone who has thought things through. But I have changed a lot of opinions (male and female) just by provoking people to think!<br /><br />And good for you that you're working in such a female-led environment! We're not all so lucky; very few of the top academics in my particular field are women (although the junior ranks are 50:50) and none of them are in my department :)NJAnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-40010940468244022332010-04-05T02:24:07.062-05:002010-04-05T02:24:07.062-05:00I did the hyphenated-name thing. I was not prepar...I did the hyphenated-name thing. I was not prepared for how much snottiness I'd encounter because of it! I think it's because the hyphenation practice is associated with women in academia or professional women, I've been on the receiving end of eye-rolls ever since. Every time I go to my doctors or dentists or kids' school and give them my name, I get the belabored sigh and the, "Smith-Jones? Which is it? Do we have you under S or J? Which is it?" And I mean EVERY TIME, even if the clerk already knows me. I just sit there patiently repeating, "My last name is Smith-Jones. Smith-Jones is my last name" until they break down.Smith-Jonesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-27021627609138874232010-04-04T23:50:12.644-05:002010-04-04T23:50:12.644-05:00NJA said:
"Hear, hear... To each her own, as ...NJA said:<br />"Hear, hear... To each her own, as long as she's aware of the broader implications of making a decision that, for many women, reflects a concession to some rather unsavoury traditions about the place of women in society."<br /><br />And yet in a previous post you suggest we should all use the system favored by Spanish speaking cultures, many of which are known for being extremely patriarchal. Oh please. There is as much cultural anti-female baggage in those cultures as there is in our own (that is to say, a lot).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-28249045787929936752010-04-04T20:53:02.127-05:002010-04-04T20:53:02.127-05:00I think the insecurity note is right on. Psycholog...I think the insecurity note is right on. Psychologically speaking, two people who are both individuated well are more likely to enjoy both their time together and apart. In other words, changing names in order to be "part of" the husband is a sign of lack of individuation, and thus chances for the relationship to last long and healthy is lower. <br />I support the name changing decision to be made personally, but not politically.ConstituentOtherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16502413445770500299noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-38667652936955717792010-04-04T12:12:00.689-05:002010-04-04T12:12:00.689-05:00@NJA
I'm sorry, I was never trying to turn th...@NJA<br /><br />I'm sorry, I was never trying to turn this into a fight, I just was initially shocked by some of the harsher language coming from you and one or two other commenters in response to a post where FSP said "everyone has the right to make their own choice and other people should respect those choices, because in the end it doesn't matter worth a damn". <br /><br />I understand my reasons are not watertight- they don't have to be to still be valid. Each of your responses to my points is certainly reasonable (although for points 1 and 2, I'm 99% certain that the satisfaction of changing my name would be outweighed by the familial shit-hurricane I would bring down on myself and the people I would hurt with that decision), but the <i>sum</i> of all those considerations means I think I would be happiest taking my husband's name. If circumstances change, I'll revisit the decision. <br /> <br />I'm not too worried about my feminist street cred- I'm working for arguably one of the best female scientists of this generation (who, by the way, followed her husband to the US after grad school without any sort of postdoc lined up just to be with him- she's now far more successful than he is), and I have a boyfriend/hopefully future husband who is currently basing his residency applications on where I am now or where I would likely want to postdoc in the next few years. By taking his name I am not declaring myself his property, no matter if that used to be the custom or not. I don't see how having women consciously making that particular choice reinforces its darker implications- I rather think it would over time help to show that it's just a name and implies no power exchange at all. That's my (probably naive) take, and you are of course welcome to differ in your opinions.Bethnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-7943185094269579502010-04-04T09:04:56.698-05:002010-04-04T09:04:56.698-05:00When I got married I chose to take my husband'...When I got married I chose to take my husband's name like this: First Maiden Lastname. For me it was a personal decision that I wanted to have the same last name as my husband and my future children. I don't regret that desire at all.<br /><br />That being said, when I found myself divorced 18 months into my marriage, and my very first name is attached to that douchebag, I get upset. I wish I had never changed my name professionally, at the very least. Now when I publish, there is no real way (that I can see) for me to easily link up to that first publication. It looks as though I am citing someone else, unless you took the time to notice that my unusual first name is on both of those papers and guessed at what happened....<br /><br />Because of the "you never know what can happen" approach to life I now have, I wouldn't advise anyone to take their partner's name for professional purposes without at least thinking about the consequences.Psycgirlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13476028853857792495noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-75132219319191826592010-04-04T07:53:32.965-05:002010-04-04T07:53:32.965-05:00@ Beth
your earlier comments saying that it's ...@ Beth<br /><i>your earlier comments saying that it's the "wrong" choice...</i><br /><br />Please don't put words in my mouth - I never said changing one's name was (always, automatically) the wrong choice. Most of the time, unless it's a personal friend, I have no way of knowing whether a woman's name-swap is an informed decision or an unquestioning adherence to tradition. So I <i>try</i> to respect her right to make that choice, even though there's a strong probability it's for the latter ("wrong") reason.<br /><br />Perhaps you have thought carefully about your own choice (again, I've no way of knowing), but the reasons you offered were not objectively watertight so I offered counterarguments in case any other readers were pondering the same decision. Quid pro quo.<br /><br />@Anonymous 02:02<br /><i>I'd say taking your husbands name is a bit like like getting silicone breast implants: Of course it's your decision, and yours only. Your body, your rules. <br />But to my mind it's not unproblematic, not to you and not to any of us.</i><br /><br />Hear, hear... To each her own, as long as she's aware of the broader implications of making a decision that, for many women, reflects a concession to some rather unsavoury traditions about the place of women in society.NJAnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-25431417151155891132010-04-04T04:19:17.794-05:002010-04-04T04:19:17.794-05:00In Comrade Physio Prof speak, it's none of any...In Comrade Physio Prof speak, it's none of anyone else's fucking business and that IS the right answer if anyone tries to make it their business.<br /><br />OTOH, you would assume with all the trillions of bucks that ISI extorts from the libraries, they could somehow link names when they are changed given an email requestEliRabetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07957002964638398767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-73032745119630531022010-04-03T20:06:22.945-05:002010-04-03T20:06:22.945-05:00When I got married I had already published and in ...When I got married I had already published and in addition, I have a good relationship with my father and not a great one with my in-laws. All motivated me to stay as my name (also, the hyphenated possibility is horrendous to say/spell). But, I agree - of my female colleagues 2 of us didn't change, 2 of us did. Some consciously avoided hyphenating as it reveals gender.<br /><br />In relation to the first concern - I wish the search engines would assign each person a unique numerical identifier. Then if I look up a paper by person X, I can be linked to all of X's other papers and not the other X's out there who share the name but are not the same. This becomes important in two main cases:<br />1) a woman/man does change their name due to marriage/divorce. Right now, PubMed won't even pull up hyphenated names from the original name (Susie Smith won't also lead to Susie Smith-Jones). There is one particular professor I know who has at least 3 names from this process - maiden name, married name, hyphenate name, and now back to maiden. Sure, she can note this on her CV, but for the person trying to follow her work it was a problem during that period. Upon remarrying, she not surprisingly did not change her name again.<br />2) common names - Smith, Jones, and of course Asian names. I have a friend who is Y Xu. No middle initial.. good luck tracking those papers. This is a problem both in terms of following the research, but also for scientific fraud - this person could claim any one of 8000 papers as their own - i'm sure some would be close enough topics that a reviewer would never catch on.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-29164883526458102192010-04-03T18:00:27.923-05:002010-04-03T18:00:27.923-05:00NJA - Thanks for the explanation. I didn't kn...NJA - Thanks for the explanation. I didn't know there was an orderly system in place for this. I was just imagining longer and longer hyphenated names! : )amynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-40157152794439402462010-04-03T14:20:32.174-05:002010-04-03T14:20:32.174-05:00@NJA
I 100% agree that it's unfortunate that ...@NJA<br /><br />I 100% agree that it's unfortunate that many women assume they should or have to take their husband's names- that's not how an equal society should work. However, your earlier comments saying that it's the "wrong" choice plus the fact that you still obviously disagree with my decision even though I've listed several reasons I might want to change my name tells me that you're not against women making that choice unquestioningly, but at all. Which is your prerogative, but I'd like to refer you back to the OP:<br /><br /><i>Whether or not a woman changes her last name to her husband's has nothing to do with how much they love and respect one another. It has nothing to do with the strength of their bond. It is a personal decision that should be respected, no matter what that decision is.</i><br /><br />If indeed I do get married in the near future, and if indeed I choose to take my husband's name, it will be because I choose to, not because I feel I have to.Bethnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-1581685270218144332010-04-03T14:02:00.900-05:002010-04-03T14:02:00.900-05:00Beth: However, my idea of feminism is one of freed...Beth: <i>However, my idea of feminism is one of freedom to choose whatever you want as an equal member of society, and whether that's to be a Ms. or a Mrs., a housewife or a biologist as long as it's an informed and free choice what does it matter?</i><br /><br />I'd say taking your husbands name is a bit like like getting silicone breast implants: Of course it's your decision, and yours only. Your body, your rules. <br /><br />But to my mind it's not unproblematic, not to you and not to any of us.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com