Rebekah Wilson Phd Thesis
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The London School of Economics and Political Science A Name of One’s Own: Identity, Choice and Performance in Marital Relationships Rebekah Wilson A thesis submitted to the Gender Institute of the London School of Economics and Political Science for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, December 2009 Declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). Parts of Chapter 3 have been published as ‘Raising the Curtain on Survey Work’ in Ryan-Flood and Gill (2010). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of the author. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. Signed _____________________________________ Date____________________ 2 Dedicated to the memory of my mother’s mother and my father’s father 3 Acknowledgements I would like to express enormous gratitude to everyone who encouraged me to undertake a doctoral degree and those who have helped me along the way. It has been a gruelling, yet thrilling half-decade. Special thanks to the LSE’s Gender Institute for providing such a wonderful environment for intellectual debate, and also for part-financing my project. I am especially indebted to my doctoral supervisor, Professor Rosalind Gill, and extremely grateful for the support provided by other LSE academics and fellow students. Moreover, I have appreciated the support given to me by my colleagues at the National Foundation for Educational Research, along with the funding and work-study flexibility provided by this institution. Of course, this study could not have been completed without the assistance of the people who completed my questionnaires and agreed to be interviewed. I am immensely grateful for their participation. Lastly, extra special thanks to Geoff Cowart for believing in me. A word from Poe to him: Nevermore! 4 Abstract With its origins in sociological debates about individualisation, personalisation and the transformation of intimacy, this research explores the long-neglected subject of the surnames of married women. Drawing on in-depth biographical interviews with 30 married or once-married women, respondents are found to engage in complex negotiations with cultural assumptions about wifehood, motherhood and the family when called to change surnames upon marriage. Through their interviews, women account for their surname ‘choice’ via a range of, often-contradictory, discourses – thereby identifying marital naming as an issue of tension and struggle for wives, as well as for women considering marriage. Their ‘talk’ frequently calls upon debates of social stability and change, as well as ideas of autonomy and connectedness. Overall, their narratives speak of social control and a dominant institutional structure in life – and women either accepted the norms of naming or dealt with the consequences. This finding was underscored by the responses of 453 people to a street survey. For interviewees, the opposing role of surnames in marking out both individual identity and social connections led to conflicts. Relational identities were often placed in opposition to autonomy. Yet, women more frequently positioned themselves as interdependent negotiators rather than autonomous agents. For interviewees, surname ‘choices’ were imbued with social meanings and were not rated equally – their choice of surname either ‘displayed’ that they were ‘doing gender well’ or ‘doing gender poorly’. However, discussions of gender were largely absent or neutralised in the interviewees’ accounts, while women who kept their maiden names spoke about feeling the need to silence their naming decision. The research concludes that marital naming forms part of women’s exhaustive efforts at ‘relationship work’. Married women were accountable for their surnames as assumptions of marital naming were found to pervade notions about wifehood. Whatever surname an interviewee decided upon, she was responsible for conducting a gendered and classed performance, and her surname ‘choices’ involved both personal sacrifices and gains. 5 Contents Preface .....................................................................................................................8 Chapter 1................................................................................................................16 Framing Naming.................................................................................................16 Old Issue, New Landscape..............................................................................16 Research Focus...............................................................................................27 Naming the Issues...........................................................................................29 Chapter Summary ...........................................................................................41 Chapter 2................................................................................................................43 Mapping the Literature: Trends, Attitudes and Motivations.................................43 Synopsis of Literature.....................................................................................43 Conceptual Literature......................................................................................48 Theme 1: Trends in Naming............................................................................51 Theme 2: Attitudes Toward Naming ...............................................................54 Theme 3: Making Decisions About Naming....................................................62 Chapter Summary ...........................................................................................73 Chapter 3................................................................................................................74 Research Design: A Reflexive Account ..............................................................74 Naming My Approach ....................................................................................75 Analytical Framework.....................................................................................79 About the Street Survey ..................................................................................83 About the Interviews.......................................................................................93 Chapter Summary .........................................................................................103 Chapter 4..............................................................................................................105 Maiden Names: Identities and Affinities...........................................................105 Maiden Names as Father-Owned...................................................................106 Maiden Names Family-Shared......................................................................111 Maiden Names as Non-Successive................................................................115 Maiden Names as Place-Specific...................................................................118 Maiden Names as Personal Possessions ........................................................123 Maiden Names as Pre-Assigned Labels.........................................................127 Chapter Summary .........................................................................................130 Chapter 5..............................................................................................................132 Marital Naming: Stability and Change..............................................................132 Surname Change as a Pre-supposed Notion...................................................133 Surname Change as a Symbol of Marriage....................................................142 Surname Change as a Sign of Commitment...................................................149 Surname Change as a Personal Choice..........................................................154 Chapter Summary .........................................................................................159 Chapter 6..............................................................................................................162 Marital Naming: Autonomy and Connectedness ...............................................162 Surname Change as Identity Theft ................................................................163 Surname Change as a Professional Barrier ....................................................169 Surname Change as Family (Dis-)Affiliation ................................................176 Surname Change as Child-Centred................................................................183 Chapter Summary .........................................................................................194 Chapter 7..............................................................................................................197 Meanings of Marriage.......................................................................................197 Survey Findings............................................................................................198