I ended up taking my mother's last name, for some of the reasons you touch on here. Which, yes, is just her father's name, but I had no real desire to invent a new name, and they were the family with which I identified most closely.

Sorry, I was unclear: I am agreeing with you. I meant "the flip side to the conventional wisdom," not the flip side to you. My broader point is that there are lots of good reasons for choosing either (and, for that matter, some kind of neat reasons to fabricate a brand new name) and people should live and let live.

Another Canadian ex-pat!

The thing is, on the flip side (I did not change my name, ftr) you tend, if you follow conventions, either to have your father's name or your husband's. Only one of those represents a choice you got to make. So I don't think it is NECESSARILY unfeminist at all to change your name. If you take your mother's last name…

It's going to be interesting to see what same sex marriage does to this convention, as with so many other traditions and customs.

I use my own name professionally, and my husband's socially. It's easier to be Mrs. Z when dealing with schools, doctors, and whatever, and in those spheres a lot of my identity is "mother of ABC and wife of D," so it's not a problem for my name to reflect that in those contexts. My educational and work worlds are my…

There is a huge difference between slumming with a wink for the paycheque, the visibility, or some other reason, and accidentally slumming while thinking you're creating art. And I think you're right, Hunnam would have been able to sell the former.

Damn, that's brilliant.

I just want to know when makeup for men is going to become a big thing. It must be only a matter of time.

There's a whole thesis worth of work on popular perceptions of whether Jews are 'white' or 'non-white,' though. It's deeply laden with meaning, too, and people who insist that they are or they aren't tend to have equally problematic worldviews. Among my many ancestors are Britons who say quite unironically that "wogs…

It's important to remember too that not-white is more privileged in North America than black.

I knew from some other context that she is ethnically part Jewish (as am I - ugh, I hate this sort of arithmetic and there is no unobnoxious way to put it) and, because I knew that, saw something Levantine/Middle Eastern. Does that count as white? This is one reason why I've opted out of this entire taxonomy.

I would add, if you can submit a paper to a relevant conference, do that. It's a chance to show what you're made of, and a fantastic networking opportunity. You have a certain amount of credibility in those contexts for being a participant, which gives you an edge you don't have in other situations.

I'm more a DoD type who works with State occasionally. Have met some awesome women there though :)

I am suddenly wondering if we've met IRL :)

That's a good point.

Sadly, that doesn't differentiate him from non-celebrity State Department types in my experience. Especially the type who write books.

Yeah, I'm not counting anything until it happens. I never thought it would come to this, either.

No, pretty sure back pay is going through. As it should.

That's a good point.