Eclectic Thoughts

I wonder about odd eclectic things...like accepted standards and norms of behavior automatically being glorified even deified.
For example we live in a patriarchal society and for the most part even our liberated western brethren.
So wives take the surnames of their husbands.
Recently watched a video of Deepika Padukone....part of the voiceover claimed...taking a man's surname was merely ornamental...and could be easily removed but not a woman's love...a message of course to value her not for her symbolic status quo in your life but for her intrinsic worth...oh I agree Deepika...that wearing or not wearing it isn't either a symbol of respect or disrespect to her husband.
and yes....it can be an ornament adorning a woman who wears it fondly with pride and yes it can be taken off ...
But not because its an ornament, and she wants to wear er..a fresh set of jewelry...
I think surnames are legally advisable not as identity tags...not as dog tags of possession but to claim property rights... Inheritance....think about how confusing it would be for widows destitute orphans sick aged parents etc...otherwise. They are convenient delineators of lineage.
So I would go one step further...Deepika...Not gender preference ...nor ornamentation....Sheer intelligence dictates we need to trim the confusion... and streamline our lives  for a smooth flow.
We cannot always keep matriarchal and patriarchal tags in the hyphenated fashion people often do...It's cumbersome illogical too...What do children of Albert Barton-Smith and Joanna Blakeley-Jones call themselves? X Y or Z Barton-Smith-Blakely-Jones?
Oh aren't you disrespectful of your mom's side by putting her surname in the end?
Yes Ha ha! Riddikulus!!! You're right....
Woman's rights.... Patriarchy...these are fine terms but common sense should prevail.
I am not property. I am a woman. I don't belong to my husband. He doesn't belong to me....We belong to each other.
To be politically correct let's say we relate to each other. It's a merger not acquisition.
I wouldn't disrespect my spouse and see his surname as an ornament that I wear for decoration.
I wouldn't let my husband rob me of my roots and lineage either by laying down the law...that I have to take his name or else.
It's no honor and no frippery.
We attach too much emotional baggage invest a lot of nonsensical religious moral sentiments to acts performed to prevent data overload and preserve sanity.
Life snickers at our stupidity and goes on...Every human man or woman carries the matriarchal proof of lineage in mitochondrial DNA.
Every man carries the unique Y chromosome from his father.
And so to end... Let a man and woman fall in love and choose one of their surnames to adopt and carry forward from there without pride without shame.
Life goes on...laughing and loving us.
We should smile too and stop taking ourselves so seriously.

Next...to be contd...etc
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(c) Amrita Valan 2015