Changing Names and Gendering Identity
This book investigates contemporary naming practices on marriage in Britain, drawing on survey data and detailed interview material in which women offer their own accounts of the reasons for which they have changed or retained their names. Exploring the ways in which names are used to create and understand family, to cement commitments and make it clear to the self and to others that subject is in true love, Changing Names and Gendering Identity considers the manner in which names are used to make sense of the self and narrate life changes and choices in a coherent fashion. A critique of the gender-blindness of sociological theories of individualisation, this volume offers evidence of the continued importance of traditions and the past to the functioning of contemporary society. In dissecting the everyday, taken-for-granted ritual of name changing for women on marriage, it sheds light on the nature of an enduring set of unequal gender relations which are used to organise society, behaviour, and interpersonal relations. Engaging with questions of power, heteronormativity, and gender relations, this analysis of a significant ritual of contemporary heterosexual marriage will interest sociologists and scholars of gender studies with interests in the family, identity, and gender.
Rachel Thwaites is a Lecturer in Sociology at Canterbury Christ Church University.
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54Changing Names and Gendering Identity
Social Organisation in Contemporary Britain
Rachel Thwaites
Changing Names and Gendering Identity
Social organisation in contemporary Britain
Rachel Thwaites
First published 2017
by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
2017 Rachel Thwaites
The right of Rachel Thwaites to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Names: Thwaites, Rachel, author.
Title: Changing names and gendering identity : social organisation in contemporary Britain / Rachel Thwaites.
Description: 1 Edition. | New York : Routledge, [2017] | Series: Routledge research in gender and society | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016026135 | ISBN 9781472477705 (hardback) | ISBN 9781315571256 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Gender identityGreat Britain. | Sex roleGreat Britain. | Personality and situationGreat Britain. | Names, PersonalGreat Britain. | Social changeGreat Britain.
Classification: LCC HQ75.6.G7 T49 2017 | DDC 303.4dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016026135
ISBN: 978-1-4724-7770-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-57125-6 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
This research sprang in part from an interest in how the everyday and mundane upholds powerful social structures and in part from personal interest in the importance of last names to individual identities, as well as the connections between the two. It is based on my PhD research, and I gratefully acknowledge the ESRC for their funding and the many opportunities they provided throughout (Grant Number: ES/I019154/1).
There are a lot of people I would like to thank across the period of researching and writing up my PhD, as well as those who have been involved in the process of turning it into a book. I would first like to thank the participants who took part in this research, from the pilot studies right through to the PhD research itself. You gave me such rich data to work with and provided the basis for this study. I hope I have done justice to the stories, experiences, and views you shared with me.
Second, to my PhD supervisors: Stevi Jackson and Christine Skinner. Many, many thanks for the help, guidance, and support you gave me throughout. I really appreciate all that you did for me and the advice and encouragement you both gave.
My thanks to everyone at the Centre for Womens Studies, University of York, for their support and generosity, which made my PhD experience a very happy one. Thanks also to Laurie Hanquinet and Emma Uprichard for their input and advice, and to Sandra Seubert and the staff at the IPP, Goethe University, Frankfurt, for their interest and encouragement. I would also like to say thank you to colleagues in Social Policy and Sociology at the University of Birmingham, particularly Shelley Budgeon and Nicola Smith, for encouraging me to hurry up and publish this book!
My thanks to Neil Jordan and the team at Ashgate/Routledge who commissioned this work and have been nothing but helpful and patient in its preparation.
I want also to say thank you to some wonderful friends, whose names tell many interesting stories: Dana Galbraith, Tololy Mahadeen, Hollie Morgan, Amy Pressland, Jennifer Reynolds, Cait Rogan, Patrycja Sosnowska-Buxton, and Paul Tobin.
I would like to dedicate this book to my parents and my sister, with whom I have shared many naming discussions prior to beginning this research and who are part of the inspiration for it; I would also like to dedicate it to my partner, Neil, who has been nothing but supportive throughout both PhD and book writing and ensured I did take the time to finish things up in late 2015 and early 2016. I offer him all my thanks and appreciation.
