Day 2 of burning everything patariachy says about me 🔥

Welcome back to my little coven🔥🧙‍♀️

Yesterday, we burned the words "Her biological clock is ticking."

Today, we're burning another expectation patriarchy has normalised so much that people barely question it.

I've never quite understood why lineage, surnames and family identity have traditionally been passed down through the paternal line.

Kings could have multiple wives. How exactly did they know which child was theirs? The mother, at least, was always known.

And yet, somehow, it's the father's surname that the child is expected to inherit.

Make it make sense.

I can't imagine carrying a child for nine months, dealing with nausea, going through childbirth, and then having that child carry someone else's name instead of mine.

Thankfully, that's not a dilemma I'll have to deal with, because I'm childfree by choice 😂

But marriage is another story.

I've watched so many of my friends change their surnames after getting married.

And in some communities in my country, women are expected to change their first names, too. Sometimes, they don't even get a say in what their new name will be.

Excuse me?

I've spent my entire life being a person with a name. An identity. A history.

Why should getting married mean I have to give any of that up?

I refuse to change my name.

I refuse to deal with all that paperwork just because I married someone.

And I refuse to treat my identity as something that automatically needs to be altered when I become someone's wife.

And I already know someone will inevitably show up to say, "But your surname belongs to your father. A man."

Thank you, genius. You've understood the problem perfectly.

Patriarchy is so deeply rooted that even the names many women inherit come through men. That doesn't mean I need to keep passing the same expectation forward without questioning it.

So today's offering to the fire is:

"Patriarchy says: She should change her surname after getting married."

Into the flames it goes 🔥

My sister witches, what do you think?

Did you change your name after marriage? Would you ever do it?

What else are you offering to the fire?

#SmashThePatriarchy