Quebec laws

[Entsuropi]

This thread is to move the conversation about that surname law out of the quotes thread.

So, to comment on the last comment by JK, the feminists force the rest of the women in quebec to follow their wierdo ideas on what people can and cannot do? How do they justify that?

[GorgonlaVacaTremendo]

Because I am lazy, could somebody at least cliff-notes version quote the conversation's main points in here.  Also, it will help if the the other thread gets lost in annoniminity.  Also, it would help if I could properly spell annoniminity.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

here's a summary:

e is a little forlorn that his genes, but not his surname, will be carried on by his children
JK indicates that in Quebec it is ILLEGAL to change your name to match that of your spouse
e claims this is retarded
chimera thinks it's funny that e would joke about that
e points out that he was not joking, and the he is now positive this is retarded.
Skar concurs.
Someone annoyingly clipped the posts where JK explains. It has something to do with feminists being powerful and everyone must do what they say, despite the fact that this was the problem they were fighting in the first place, and that it makes it easier for the government to track people. JK does not specify that he is in agreement with the law. (editorial comments added by moi)

[GorgonlaVacaTremendo]

okay, so basically they are making it illegal to change your name to match that of your spouse, even though many men and/or women may want to change their name(s) to match their spouse's.  That's like making a law against me going by a nickname... I agree, this is retarded.

[stacer]

That's very strange. Personally, I like the Scottish tradition (Ent may be able to verify whether this still happens or not) in which the wife officially takes the name of her husband, but is known in church records and in the community as her maiden name unless she's being referred to as Mrs. so-and-so. Makes my job as a family historian SO much easier, because then I know the wife's maiden name and can go back another generation, while knowing who she was married to, too.

[fuzzyoctopus]

I agree with Saint.  Taking away someone's choice of personal preference is stupid.  How does taking away the choice help feminism.  Are they crazy nazi feminists?  And don't get me started about the age of consent in Canada.

[Chimera]

Isn't something similar done in some Latin cultures?

I can't remember for sure, so I would be happy for someone with more knowledge to enlighten me, but I remember in my Spanish 101 class learning about how women often kept their maiden name when they married, and then the children would have two last names--the mother's and the father's--so that the family names would survive.

I could be totally off. But it was something like that. And it made it so confusing to remember the people's names. We had to do an exercise on it and everything. Which did not make me think highly of the cultural practice at the time. Now, though, I think it is an interesting idea.

[stacer]

Yes, Mexicans and a few other Latin American nations do it. I'm not sure if Spaniards do it. But the mother's name isn't used on a regular basis--my old roommate was Marisa Ontiveros, not Marisa _____some name___ Ontiveros, in regular usage. Just in official usage.

[Entsuropi]

I honestly don't know Stacer. I've not lived in scotland since I was 12. I'll ask though. It might have died out though - a lot of traditions like that died when TV came into Scotland, since that helped bring Scottish culture into line with English culture. We used to celebrate Christmas on the 27th or something like that, for example.

[The Jade Knight]

I am in concurance with those who think it's a stupid law.

Remember, I'm anti-Socialism.  =þ

[Spriggan]

In japan last names are a big thing, even though they've only had them for about a hundred years (for commoners) and those names were usually just one of the first things they say (that's why so many are named after trees, rice fields, etc), and if there's no son in the family when they daughter gets married they'll actually have a mediated dispute on wither or not the husband will take the wife's last name so it can be passed on.  They're basically contracts about wither or not the kids will take a last name or not and what will happen upon death/divorce.

When I first arrived in Japan there was such a marriage going on near the mission home that the local Bishop was mediating in.

[The Jade Knight]

I don't think Ari particularly cares if her last name gets passed on.  There are only about 400 surnames in China (a country of over 1 billion), and only about 100 "common" surnames.  Ari's surname is one of these.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

I want to be clear: let the woman or man choose what she or he wants to do. That precludes the forcing OR forbidding the taking of the new name.

[The Jade Knight]

Makes sense to me.

[scAri]

That was a really cute mass diatribe against feminists and all, but I think that the government just wants to keep watch on us. I mean, Quebec is liberal, but I don't think the bra-burners are at that point of prestige even here.

Although, may I point out that Quebec also has authority over what you name your kids... A guy wanted to name his daughter Spatula and was declined by the government.