Men viewed as more feminine, lacking pants if wives keep last name, study finds

RENO, Nevada — What’s in a last name? Muscle, apparently. Men married to women who opt to keep their maiden names after tying the knot are often viewed as less masculine and lacking pants in the relationship, a new study finds.

Researchers at the University of Nevada conducted three related studies in the United States and United Kingdom, hoping to learn how a woman’s decision to keep her last name affected how others perceived her husband.

Bride holding wedding rings
A new study finds that a man is viewed as less masculine and disempowered when his wife keeps her maiden name after marriage.

The researchers’ first two studies found that whenever a husband’s last name differed from that of his wife’s, he was frequently described in ways that both deemphasized his masculinity and overemphasized any feminine characteristics.

Meanwhile, previous research has shown that wives who shun the time-tested naming tradition enjoy a number of benefits, including higher social status and perception of power, along with increased self-focus, ambition, and assertiveness.

These qualities run counter to older, rigid portrayals of women, which depict them as kind and nurturing, yet powerless, the researchers note.

“A woman’s marital surname choice therefore has implications for perceptions of her husband’s instrumentality, expressivity, and the distribution of power in the relationship,” says Rachael Robnett, the study’s lead author, in a journal release. “Our findings indicate that people extrapolate from marital surname choices to make more general inferences about a couple’s gender-typed personality traits.”

Robnett’s third study showed that men who held steadfast beliefs on traditional gender roles showed increased prejudice against husbands who didn’t share their last name with their spouse, seeing him as disempowered.

“We know from prior research that people high in hostile sexism respond negatively to women who violate traditional gender roles,” she explains. “Our findings show that they also apply stereotypes to nontraditional women’s husbands.”

While societal change benefiting women has continued at a steady pace, many feminists still wonder when women will no longer be expected to take on their husband’s surname, which they regard as an obsolete practice.

“The marital surname tradition is more than just a tradition,” Robnett argues. “It reflects subtle gender-role norms and ideologies that often remain unquestioned despite privileging men.”

The researchers published their findings last week in the journal Sex Roles.

Comments

  1. Next thing you’ll tell us is beta cucks like to be pegged by their wife after she’d finished getting reamed by Tyrone’s BBC.

  2. The pussification of America continues. In other news, Feminists have a higher rate of suicide, depression and godlessness.

    1. Sounds fair enough — they can have a good cry then get off the planet. They already live in the darkness, might as well go all in.

  3. It’s not that hard to figure out. A women who keep her maiden name or hyphenates it is simply hedging her bets.

    1. TRUE…then…..why marry her then…..

      my point is …..you, as a man… take it off the table ….like fidelity …and joint finances…you will NOT be married to me if you do not do

      a….b….c…

      1. p*ssy is a powerful thing. Some guys are willing to deal with their lack of testosterone to get it.

  4. “The marital surname tradition is more
    than just a tradition,” Robnett argues. “It reflects subtle gender-role
    norms and ideologies that often remain unquestioned despite privileging
    men.” ~~~ I think I’d change my name to his just to spite this stupid little left wing brain donor. So sick of the male privilege bullshit. And I’m a woman!

  5. Just not the Christian thing to do. IMHO

    Marriage is a holy covenant between a man, a woman, and God.

    1. not a MAN thing to do

      Jews do this too…..

      this is not about Christianity…it is about being a MAN

  6. So, the new wife keeps her father’s name instead of taking her husband’s? That’s makes her a strong woman, to keep her father’s name?

  7. i wonder if this study included whether or not this “man” was raised by a mother only ..or lived in a household with a father

    i bet this is obvious as well

  8. BARF on all of it.
    Ever since Eve women have been out of control.
    Men screw things up badly enough without the women helping.
    ‘Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies.’
    Stay at home and be an anchor for your husband, be a homemaker, raise your children, and guess what?
    You will find happiness.
    In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

    1. that would be great….if you can afford to do so….

      this has nothing to do with earning money……in fact MOST of the family wealth earned will come MANY…..MANY years after you first get married….

      today….a new house (here in California at least) costs about $750K…if the average age of a newly married couple is 26 …there are few jobs that a single income household can obtain that will afford you a house here in my neighborhood …. you need 2 incomes ..at least for a few years

      1. Perhaps.
        However, I did it. Here is how: First I PRAYED. I asked, among other things, that He provide an income sufficient that my wife to be (I hadn’t even met her yet) not have to work outside the home, sufficient to pay for that home. I asked He send me a woman who wanted to stay home and be my homemaker, lover, wife and mother to my children.
        He made me wait 8 years, but everything was delivered. All this is sunny SoCal.
        Truly God has blessed me.

  9. Can’t be true. My wife kept her name and she told me I could keep wearing pants. ….wait a minute!!!

  10. What’s the big deal? My wife is an executive professional who makes 3x the money I make. Her name is known within her career field.. I encouraged her to keep her name. Changing the name is an antique tradition based on the notion that women are chattel. Wtf do I care what other people think about it? I work hard. She works hard. We’re 15 years together and going strong. We take care of each other and there’s no gender confusion. She cooks, cleans, fixes stuff, assembles furniture, etc. and I do to. A wife is not property. Keep her happy and you’ll be all the happier for it. It pays dividends. It’s like being rich. All the goodness just flows right back to you.

      1. Yeah well I’ll be getting into some panties tonight…to get her out of them. After she makes my dinner.

    1. your wife can take your name and STILL make 3x what you make..

      what you FAIL to understand is that HER name is not her’s ..it belongs to her FATHER

      you are allowing HER FATHER to hold power over you in YOUR marriage

      1. He was a great man. Vietnam vet. Homicide detective. Served his country and community his whole life. The only power he ever wielded was to pay for our wedding. She’s a daddy’s girl. I like daddy’s girls.

      2. all irrelevant…you are NOW the WIFE of your husband….are you ashamed?

        are you hoping you ex-boyfriends can still find you on facebook?

        are you planning a divorce in a couple of years?

      3. So you have a family unit where everyone has one name and your wife still identifies as her father’s daughter instead of your wife and your childrens’ mother…. And you don’t see where the disconnect is? I once knew a girl who married a guy who was a paraplegic. She insisted that the lack of intimacy that would exist in that marriage wouldn’t be an issue for her… 3 years later she left him for a guy she had gotten into an affair with….

      4. I guess it’s simpler because we have no children and never wanted any. We’ve worked to prevent having children. It’s insanely awesome to not live in the world of the morons in this comment thread. Nobody needs alpha males anymore. Not everybody cheats and lies. A successful marriage is based on friendship. People get old. Bodies droop and sag. Looks fade. If that’s what you base attractiveness on, you’re doomed. My wife will serve me dinner. I’ll make her morning coffee. She’ll do the bills while I put a new starter in her truck. What the hell use would she have for some knuckle-dragging troglodyte? We laugh at those guys when we go shooting. The smaller the willie the bigger the gun.

  11. Why should a wife abandon the name she’s used her entire life, and more than a husband abandon his? Professionally, my wife still uses her maiden name. Personally, she usually uses my surname. After a couple of months, nobody even noticed any more. I don’t give a rat’s ass how it’s “viewed”. Marriage isn’t a matter of last names. In all honesty, I might have a slight an issue if she ALSO refused to wear a wedding ring.

  12. Yes MS (((Steingold))), women taking their husbands name is definitely “privileging men.” Did you wear your “This is What a Feminist Looks Like” shirt as you wrote this drivel?

    1. Drudge and conservative men are obsessed with sex robots because they can’t get laid the normal way.


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