A Social Psychological Review on Women’s Surname Change after Marriage and Divorce

Surname is an integral part of a person’s identity. However, surname which has many psychological and social meanings for the person is changed only for women after marriage. In this regard, the purpose of the article is to review the factors affecting women’s decisions regarding surname choice after marriage and divorce, as well as explaining the stereotypes and attitudes towards women who made traditional or untraditional name choices. In terms of the marital surname choice, women may adopt husband’s surname, hyphenate their birth surname and their husband’s surname, and retain only their birth surname. In this context, we presented not only related demographic variables such as age, socio-economic level, education level, and political orientation but also social psychological variables such as emphasis on family/motherhood, sexism, feminist identification, religiosity and perceived social norms. Then, studies focusing on the attitudes and stereotypes towards women who make different marital surname choices were presented. The traditional surname change was also considered in terms of patriarchy and gender-based discrimination. Additionally, possible effects of the post-divorce surname change on a woman's life were mentioned. In the conclusion part, the effects of surname change at the individual and societal level were discussed in parallel with the issues mentioned in the current article and further possible research ideas were suggested. Keywords: Surname change, surname choice, marriage, divorce, sexism, attitudes, stereotype

Social Movements, Collective Identity, and Workplace Allies: The Labeling of Gender Equity Policy Changes

Social movements seek allies as they campaign for social, political, and organizational changes. How do activists gain allies in the targeted institutions they hope to change? Despite recognition of the importance of ally support in theories about institutional change and social movements, these theories are largely silent on the microdynamics of ally mobilization. We examine how the labeling of organizational policies that benefit women influences potential workplace allies’ support for these policies. We theorize that one barrier to mobilizing workplace allies is a misalignment of the labels that activists use to promote new policies and employees’ affiliation with collective identities. We conducted five experiments to test our hypotheses and 26 qualitative interviews to provide illustration of our core concepts. We demonstrate that employees high in feminist identification are more likely to support feminist-labeled (feminist and #MeToo) than unlabeled policies, whereas those low in feminist identification are less likely to support feminist-labeled than unlabeled policies (Studies 1–3). However, we find that participants for whom organizational identification was high (whether measured or manipulated) and feminist identification was low supported organizationally labeled policies more than feminist-labeled polices (Studies 4 and 5). This illustrates that policies whose aims may not align with one collective identity can still garner support by activating another relevant collective identity. Within our studies, we provide evidence that these effects are mediated via feelings of pride in the organization (and not fear or anger), suggesting that positive emotions are a central mechanism in mobilizing workplace allies.

The emergent construction of feminist identity in interaction

This case study is an analysis of college-aged womens’ conversations about feminist identity and tracks a shifting attitude among college women with respect to feminist identification. Using conversation analysis, I argue that the interlocutors’ feminist identity is an interactional achievement produced by collaboratively setting aside topics related to feminism. This practice (re)problematizes feminism and maintains hegemonic standards of ‘feminist’ as an identity that needs to be accounted for in conversation. Building on Eckert and McConnell-Ginet’s (2013) work on the phrase “I’m not a feminist, but…” I argue that feminist identification may be shifting, as the discourse in the present study fall more in line with “I am a feminist, but…,” producing a ‘sort of’ feminist identity. In the discursive process of relevantly setting aside qualities and practices associated with feminism, the interlocutors (re)establish normativity surrounding feminist identity and its enaction in everyday conversation.

Feminist Men and Sexual Behavior: Analyses of Men’s Sex with Women

Men’s identification with and support for feminism has attracted the interest of masculinity scholars. This study explores an under-researched dimension of this phenomenon, investigating the relationship between feminist identification and sexual behavior. In heterosexual encounters, do feminist men report having sex more recently than those who do not call themselves feminists? During sexual encounters, do feminist men behave differently than non-feminists? In particular, do feminist men organize their sexual behavior in a way that prioritizes their partners’ sexual pleasure to a greater extent than non-feminists? Using representative survey data of Canadian adults, we examine the self-reported sexual behavior of heterosexual Canadian men. We find that self-identifying feminist men report having sex more recently and are more likely to report engaging in breast stimulation and performing oral sex on their partners than non-feminists. We discuss the implications of these findings on the sociological literature on gender and sexuality.

Feminist Men and Sexual Behavior: Analyses of Men’s Sex with Women

Men’s identification with and support for feminism has attracted the interest of masculinity scholars. This study explores an under-researched dimension of this phenomenon, investigating the relationship between feminist identification and sexual behavior. In heterosexual encounters, do feminist men report having sex more recently than those who do not call themselves feminists? During sexual encounters, do feminist men behave differently than non-feminists? In particular, do feminist men organize their sexual behavior in a way that prioritizes their partners’ sexual pleasure to a greater extent than non-feminists? Using representative survey data of Canadian adults, we examine the self-reported sexual behavior of heterosexual Canadian men. We find that self-identifying feminist men report having sex more recently and are more likely to report engaging in breast stimulation and performing oral sex on their partners than non-feminists. We discuss the implications of these findings on the sociological literature on gender and sexuality.

Predictors of Feminist Identity Utilizing an Intersectional Lens With a Focus on Non-Hispanic White, Hispanic, and African American MSW Students

A fundamental value of social work is social justice, which includes gender and racial/ethnic equality. Feminists address gender-based oppression and often work to address racial/ethnic inequalities as well as many other forms of oppression. However, most literature suggest that less than half of social work students identify as feminists. This study investigated factors that contribute to student feminist self-identification, focusing on how racial/ethnic identity may influence feminist identity. Four predicting constructs were identified: method of exposure to feminism, feminist knowledge, feminist attitudes and ideologies, and description of feminists. A multiple regression model was applied to the overall sample ( N = 660) and to each racial/ethnic group. Findings indicate that in the overall sample, all four constructs significantly contributed to predicting feminist identification, while in the non-Hispanic white sample ( n = 366), method of exposure, feminist attitudes and ideologies, and description of feminists made significant contributions; for the Hispanic sample ( n = 157), only feminist attitudes and ideologies made significant contributions to predicting feminist identification; and for the African American sample ( n = 137), method of exposure and description of feminists made significant contributions. These findings indicate differences among racial/ ethnic background in feminist identity and provide a comprehensive picture of feminist identity among Master’s of Social Work (MSW) students.