Here are more photos of Amal Clooney (formerly Amal Alamuddin) out and about in Athens, Greece yesterday. Apparently, she met with the Greek Minister of Culture, then she and her law partner went to lunch. Where Amal was photographed sipping some wine. This is surprising! First of all, I didn’t know she drank alcohol. Second of all, I’m sure that photo will be used as photo evidence that she’s not pregnant with a honeymoon baby. Damn it, Mrs. Clooney! I was hoping that you would get knocked up quickly. Duggar it, Amal!
As for this whole Mrs. Clooney/Amal Clooney name change… I’m actually really shocked by the outpouring of media coverage and handwringing over Amal’s choice to change her name. Granted, I was surprised that she didn’t hyphenate because that would have been my choice for her: to become Amal Alamuddin-Clooney. She could have kept the sing-songy poetry of her maiden name while acknowledging her new husband. Plus, it would have been consistent personal branding, as I said yesterday. People got to know her as Amal Alamuddin and changing your name mid-course will lead to brand-confusion.
But, at the end of the day, it’s her choice. Everyone has an opinion though. Even the fancy intellectual media/new sites have been running “think pieces” about whether Amal should have changed her name. The Guardian defended her choice. Salon basically said it was a peasant-y choice that 86% of American women make (I’m guessing the 14% that don’t change their names read Salon).
In all of the discussion, I feel like there’s one theory that hasn’t really been discussed: maybe she wanted a more “Anglo” name? I too have a hard-to-pronounce/spell last name and maybe Amal is just tired of endlessly spelling out “Alamuddin” to people she encounters on a daily basis. She’s tired of the “What kind of name is that?” questions and the “What’s that? I’m gonna need you to spell it.” No one ever asks a Clooney how to spell their name. (Incidentally, my mother had one of the most Anglo maiden names ever and she loved her married Indian surname so much, she kept it after she divorced my dad.)
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
People love to hate her, that’s why. Her name, her choice.
I agree. Some people seem to want to nitpick at her constantly and this is just something else they can use. I don’t know enough about her to have a real opinion, but it’s her name, her choice.
I’m just shocked that people are still talking about them.
+1
I found it a bit strange because if I was a highly respected lawyer, I would want to keep my own name for professional reasons. That said, I don’t particularly care that she changed it. It IS her choice, at the end of the day.
Exactly – her choice! Maybe some people just want to change their freaking name to feel more connected as a family. Who even cares.
I doubt “everyone is freaking out” about this. I’m certainly not.
I came here to understand why this is a thing. I’ve heard and read very little news at all about Amal’s name change. Hearing everyone is freaking out seems over rated.
Seems totally normal.
Now if she shelved her law degree and announced she was going into acting or reality tv we can freak out. Until then she’s boring in a good way.
@ FLORC…..yes, right on!
Only people who visit these sites could tell you her name, that’s why she changed it. If you believe an established published attorney would change her name if she married Joe Blow, you’re crazy. She wanted the fame name, and that’s so obviously simple. Some may feel there’s a hypocrisy involved since he rattled on about her dislike and shyness of the spotlight, which clearly isn’t true. The name alone gives her clout and celebrity standing in some places, why is that so hard to understand? The topic just seems to be a way to insure continued coverage of the Conspicuous Coupling. Oooh, lotta C’s..
I dunno, I personally think that Amal is enough of a name to be famous. It really doesn’t matter what her last name is at this point.
I like that she is a worker, professional, and can handle the media blitz.
“Only people who visit these sites could tell you her name, that’s why she changed it. If you believe an established published attorney would change her name if she married Joe Blow, you’re crazy. ”
Exactly. It’s a matter of self-respect for what you’ve achieved. Of course if you consider marrying someone like Clooney your crowning achievement then I guess I get it. It’s just disappointing.
Wow, she is…ridiculously gorgeous…that bone structure, gah
+1
I have the name of my husband and our daughter has our 2 names
I’ve long wondered what happens when someone with 2 last names marries someone with 2 last names. If the bride wants to keep her name too, does it become a hyphenated 4 word last name?
Happens frequently in Quebec, where people can’t change their names after marriage without jumping through some serious hoops. Add to the fact that most couples here don’t even marry, but rather stay in long-term common-law (de facto) unions. Often times parents will give their kids both family names, which makes it tricky once that person has a kid with another someone who also has a hyphenated last name. One way or another, it all works out. My kid (ETA: just a few weeks!) will use my husband’s surname (since it’s unique to his family), and my surname will be a middle name.
@LadyD-so in Spain (and other Spanish speaking countries) folks have 2 names. For example:
Javier Bardem’s full name is Javier Encinas Bardem, and Penelope Cruz’s full name is Penélope Cruz Sánchez. So their kids have Encinas Cruz as their surnames.
So someone can choose to go with that particular naming tradition, or go for a 4 word last name if they want. Or more-Pablo Picasso had 14 surnames.
My high school Spanish teacher was from Costa Rica and she had like 6. She was also very proud of the fact that she had over 100 pairs of shoes and even wore heels hanging around her house “just in case someone came to the door.” She was a fun lady.
Meh, it’s the trend now, after years of hyphenated names. We considered giving the kids my name, but I’m an avid reader and writer, and their names sounded more cool with his last name. I like Alamuddin way more than Clooney, but then, Cluny is a freaky rat from the Redwall series.
Haha, I loved those books when I was a kid.
I wonder if Abbot is freaking out about the name change.
I’m wondering who is ‘freaking out’. Maybe we should focus on this epidemic of freaking out.
Did you read the posts from yesterday? Apparently, she is setting a bad example for young girls the world over and considers herself his property and doesn’t care about her career and is a sellout and not a feminist.
No I didn’t read that article at all. If she ‘sold out’, she made a hefty profit, I know that much.
I’m changing my name to Kiddo McConaughey immediately.
That has a nice ring to it…and beat, I might add. Foot STOMPING bongo beating village destroying rhythm.
Is that a veiled threat?
*reports KIDDO for violating McConaughey’s bongos*
I’m changing my name in honor of mimif’s return. *waves maniacally at mimif*
I also have a potato back up at my house as I haven’t had anyone to launch them at for a couple weeks. It smells very…”earthy” at my home.
*tosses tater tots wildly in the air*
Dude, Jaderu do you know who Fluffy the comedian is? He’s got the funniest standup about Channing Tatum & having a bit part in Magic Mike. I’m not gonna link it, but Kiddo you might be interested too because he talks about MM’s, um, personality. Allllright. 😀
Nah. I was freaking for a minute because we were an hour in without an Amalooney update.
Don’t give up on me. I won’t give up on you. I’ll never let go, Amalooney. *Let’s them drift gently to watery grave*
Can you make it stop? I’ve been offline for like 2 weeks and it’s still here. It’s like…Alamoobola.
Where did you go? On a mission to marry Simon?
I’ve been partying with Amy Poehler. Nah, I was just cultivating & curating & stuff. Rains came so I had to hustle to save Kitten’s medicine. 🙂
I hope you really did get rain though. You guys desperately needed it.
@mimif, we had to surrender; there is no antidote to the Amalooney. They have played out every variable, and we have no move. Checkmate is imminent; our recourse a trapped pawn awaiting its executioner.
Your absence has been noted. Audit scheduled.
We are all Cloo-sciples. Amaluddies. Cloonatics. We’re still working on our name…
We should be anarchaloonyclooneyists, and the fight the power.
I can’t keep up. I feel like I’ve just had a kloonoscopy.
*Kiddo, it’s for real raining. A deluge of epic Alamloonatic proportions, if you will.
I do find it curious that mimif was gone for the duration of the Clooneymoon. Hmmm….
•Abbott•
I read your post with the tune of David Soul’s ‘Don’t Give Up On Us’ as backdrop. Lol
(David Soul was a huge star and heartthrob in the 70’s. My mother had the biggest crush on him *sigh*)
To each her own. I don’t think we should be telling women of any stature what’s the “right” choice with this one.
I have a career that’s somewhat in the public eye (on local television) so I totally understand your point about branding. I doubt I’d ever change mine professionally, but I’d never be offended being called “Mrs. (whatever)” in my personal life.
I’ve also been to the house in the mountains in Tuscany my family built 300 years ago. That’s on my dad’s side, so it’s my last name too. That gives me more reason to keep it because I’m so proud of it.
Kaiser, now I’m curious to know what your father’s last name is! I wanna knoooooow.
Yeah I’m not sure what all the judgment is about. Maybe she’s just traditional? Or maybe she’s like my friend, who always hated her last name and couldn’t change it fast enough after she got married.
I think a lot of women don’t change their name professionally because they are afraid of confusion in the workplace. Well, since everyone knows who she is now and who she married, that isn’t an issue.
I despise my last nane with a passion and would change it within a hearbeat if my man decided to put a ring on it.
You can change your name for any reason. You don’t have to get married to do it. Just pick something you really like.
I find it funny that people are giving Amal shit for changing her name to Clooney. 50 years ago they would have given her shit if she DIDN’T change her last name to her husband’s name.
That’s one of the things I most look forward to about getting married one day- changing my last name. It’s long, complicated and Dutch. I didn’t find out the Dutch part until I was in high school and decided to research it- asking my paternal grandmother was less than helpful.
“Mama, where did the S family come from?”
“Alabama.”
“I mean, where did we *come* from before that? Where is the name S from?”
“I just told you, Alabama!”
Bless her heart. 😉
BW- I was going to say. If a person hates her last name, then she can legally change it to a last name she prefers. No marriage necessary.
Yes I’m aware that I can change my last name without getting married if I wanted to. Perhaps I chose not to chage it until marriage because I don’t want to hurt my family’s feelings. If I get married and change it then they would understand. Would you walk up to your parents and say mom, dad I hate my last name therefore I’m changing it? Maybe if I was a celeb and told them it was purely for the business but I’m somewhat sensitve to my folks feelings.
Her choice
I think after being positively inundated (poisoned?) with the Alamooney coverage, it should be our choice. Long live Amal Klooney!
We went over this at length yesterday, so I’ll just say again that I think it’s a personal choice, and valid one, and everyone who was ranting about how it means she’s a backwards, subservient, anti-feminist doormat who sees herself as a man’s possession can kiss my a&&. That’s my debating technique for today. Don’t tell me what I have to call myself and I won’t tell you the same.
I avoided the thread yesterday (I have to pace myself in this Amaloonathon) but I agree with you.
Her person, her identity, her reasons, her name, her choice.
Agree 100% with you ladies. Who gives a rat’s ass? It’s her choice, her decision.
Bleh. People get so weird about everything…
Agreed. It felt like some people thought that they had to change their last name to clooney. It’s a personal choice, I don’t judge her or anybody for whatever they choose. It all gets a bit silly here sometimes.
Wow, I guess I missed the comment section on this story yesterday. I had NO idea it was such a controversy. Sometimes, I think people are just looking for a reason to be angry.
Agreed, and I think you held your ground well in the comments I read yesterday. We have to stop attacking woman who make what are considered “old fashion” or “archaic” choices like changing their surname or being stay at home moms and housewives. Just because a woman makes a choice that you consider to be “demeaning” or “archaic” does NOT mean she isn’t a feminist. I stayed home with my first daughter for three years and I changed my surname (I felt pressured to do so at first, but ultimately I’m okay with the choice) and I have gotten some snide remarks from female friends about it. I don’t know what Amal’s motivation was behind her name change, but it was ultimately her choice!
See what I miss when I only stop by occasionally??? EVERYTHING!
I didn’t change my name in m first marriage but I did in my second. It’s absolutely personal choice. BUT! I will say – to those who think it’s a wrong thing to do, on principle – It’s not 1950 anymore. People can chose change their last name for several reasons, and I didn’t feel that preserving my maiden name was, in any way, tied to preserving my independence. Which is what I hear from my friends who keep their maiden names – that it’s somehow giving up a piece of yourself if you do it. For real? It’s a name, hardly who you are as a person.
In my first marriage – at the ripe old age of 23 (ugh!) – I hyphenated my name. My thought was, my name is my name but I also want to be “attached” to my husband. It wasn’t an issue as my ex was French-Canadian so there’s a whole set of different social and legal traditions in regards to marriage and names over there. That marriage lasted a whooping 2 yrs (he cheated) so it was easy to retain my name after the divorce. And I was glad that I hadn’t completely surrendered my name identity to his last name solely. (I’m an only child, so there’s also that in regards to the end of a name lineage)
I’m now 40 and have yet to remarry, however, if my partner and I decide to marry (we’re in it for the long haul but I’m undecided if I actually need marriage again), I’d once again hyphenate my name. I’ve carried around my name for the past 40yrs. It is my name. But there is a part of me that also likes the idea of being recognised as “his wife” in a social setting, so to say. But I’d have no qualms if someone referred to me as layla x, layla x-y or simply Mrs layla y either way.
Each to their own… for THEIR OWN reasons.
Now, if my partner INSISTED I take his name, and his name only (which he wouldn’t.. but if he did).. .that’s a whole other debate.
I got married last year and kept my last name. You wouldn’t believe how many people got upset at me for not changing my name. My last name is also long and hard to pronounce and spell, but I don’t care, I think it’s an awesome last name and that’s the #1 reason why I kept it.
I think people are so up in arms over Amal changing her last name is because likely many of us see her as a strong professional woman who wouldn’t give in to archaic traditions. I don’t know? I just think that these two have been putting themselves out there so much that everyone is just getting angry about anything lol. I find Clooney to be dull as dirt so I too am pretty irritated at all the coverage he’s been getting, that fame wh*re.
I hyphenated (though I still haven’t finished all my paper work name switching stuff). It was a compromise, really. And it’s a really lengthy last name now, and most people butcher his last name, but it was important to me to keep my last name, and it was important to him for me to take his as well – so I have both. Likely, if we have kids, they’ll have his last name because I don’t want them to have to hyphenate -they’d have such a miserable time learning to spell their name,
Thanks for posting this, I was saying the same thing yesterday. It’s a personal choice, who wouldn’t want to be Mrs. Clooney 😉 – and as far as confusing her brand, after all the coverage of that wedding, no one is going to be confused about who Amal Clooney is or was!
Because “Amal Alamuddin” is regal & exotic, with shades of Arabian nights; “Amal Clooney”, er, isn’t.
Only take your husband’s name if it’s an upgrade, like Cheryl “failed US X-factor judge” Tweedy who went to “Cole” and then “Fernandez-Versini”!
I have my name legally (work, my professional licenses, taxes, etc), but I use my husbands “socially” simply because our girls have his name (I have a common last name -Johnson).
I had my name for the first 30 years of my life – I could to imagine changing it
People are worried about her being anti feminist because of a name change? Uhg.
Yep. Yesterday’s thread was lots of fun.
Well, change your name or not – if you’re going in with your father’s name, either way, your identity is founded upon some guy.
Not a big deal. (Though aesthetically, my preference is for Alamuddin).
Oooooh good point Genevieve!
If you hate your last name, there’s nothing stopping you from legally changing it. You don’t even need to get married to do it!
As for George and Amal, they’re famewhores like the rest of them. Who cares about name changes?
That’s always my argument. At least you have some choice in the husband part!
Go Genevieve! Never thought of it that way but it’s a great point.
Best compromise I ever saw was a couple I knew who changed both their names – to one they came up with together. They wanted to tell the world they were united as a team, and marriage was changing them both – so they picked a name completely different from either of their surnames and went with that.
A lot of their friends/relatives threw shade, especially at the groom – but I thought it was the most awesome and romantic idea I had ever heard.
This is such a specious argument. By that logic we all, men and women, have men’s names. Of course, no one says that a man has his father’s name, they say that it’s his name. But if a woman doesn’t change her name, she still has “her father’s” name? This is such poor logic and sexist, to boot.
It’s old style class. It sounds like a wonderful name. People need to relax. Amal Clooney is a great thing.
ITA with you on this! Plus, it’s a grand romantic gesture by a newlywed after all, isn’t it?
I must admit, I was quite taken aback at the outbreak of hostilities on here about this yesterday. Not that I mind a bit of argy-bargy but there do seem to be more significant things to get aerated about.
As a young agitpropper, I felt marriage was a ridiculous and outdated institution in which I’d never be interested. Eventually, Mr Sixer and I got together in a way we believed would be permanent but I still didn’t see much point in being married. But then we decided to have children and it seemed to us that we wanted to create distinct family unit for our kids. We thought about it and decided that branding that unit with marriage was something we’d like to do. A public, as well as a private, statement, if you will. Not to mention that it made things clearer legally.
So then we had a debate about names. The same principle applied: we wanted our family to share a name. Should it be Mr Sixer’s name? My name? Our names hyphenated? Or should we go the whole hog and have a completely new name? You might laugh, but in the end, sheer laziness prevailed. If I went with Mr Sixer’s name, that resulted in the smallest number of forms to be filled out. So that’s what we did.
Thinking about it today, it really seems so unimportant in the overall scheme of my family life. Certainly not worth the effort of typing out several paragraphs about it as I’ve just done!
Well I like your paragraphs, Sixer. And am I allowed to write that argy-bargy is the best thing ever? I’m totally going to argy-bargy with KIDDO all day today.
I’m going to agitprop, myself.
And also, I LOVE Sixer.
I miss agitprop. Most of all the univ abbrevs that I used to do.
Can I come and play with the argy-bargying?
No. I love Sixer more. You only love her for her fancy abbreviations, I love her for her slang.
I’ve never had a wordplay threesome before. How novel!
Geez you guys, get a blog already. 😉
Agree. My husband offered to take my name because, quite frankly, it’s prettier than his, but we opted for his out of laziness, mostly. Yesterday just burned me up with all the judgment.
You always seem so cool and collected. I admire that. I get too ticked off when told what to do or how to think about things that I consider my own business and no one else’s.
Laziness rules. Right, GNAT?
Don’t let keyboard battling go further than the keyboard. It’s just fingertips, you know? That’s the secret!
Love it.
Oops, I forgot it pretty fast, as you will see below if I’m not deleted. Honestly, these people are going to give me a coronary.
GNAT – honestly, giving stuff an airing is a good thing. Particularly if someone violently disagrees with an opinion you hold. Look at it as an opportunity to think again. You might stick with what you’ve always thought more often than not, but on the odd occasion you change your mind and another little piece of life’s puzzle falls into place. And when that happens, it’s a blessing!
I completely agree with that, and I have had several posters open my eyes and/or change my mind about certain things. I really do try to listen. Sometimes, though, arrogance and judgmental self-righteousness just get under my skin. It depends on my mood as well. I probably should just step away. It’s just someone’s opinion.
@Sixer – A for effort. you could never post too many paragraphs. Always enjoy reading your comments and this was no exception.
Excellent, Sixer, as always!
My feelings exactly…..when I was a student I was anti-everything: you name it, I wanted it abolished. Marriage and names and titles were in BIG trouble.
But blimey, other things are more worthy of my rants these days. I haven’t a scintilla of a problem with Amal and her name, and it’s a relief!
May I offer you these ‘ere roses for the use of ‘aerated’? (I often use it with an additional ‘i’…’aeriated’…. which I cannot account for.)
Pip pip. 🙂
Lol at “you name it, I wanted it abolished.”
Oh Bloody YEUCHY liver onstage!
LOL Kiddo!!
🙂
Ha love you Sixer!
Why was it easier for you to take his name rather than him taking your name? Wouldn’t it be the same?
It could be different in the States, but in the UK, all you need to do to change your name as a woman is show the marriage certificate. Job done. I would imagine, legally, that a man has the same right, but good luck with all the bank tellers and various travel agents etc being aware of the fact.
Yes to what K said. Also, Mr Sixer had always had government-type jobs so had several occupational pensions that were going to be a pain to change with a name change, plus a service record (British Army) that was quite important for his subsequent career and would also have been a pain to change. I, on the other hand, had a more American-style job – mahousive salary accompanied by zero benefits. All I needed to do was shove a marriage certificate into a few envelopes and write a new will. Mr Sixer had untold hoops to jump through.
Until we realised this, we had intended to use my name. Mostly because we thought the reaction would be amusing in the way LAK pointed out below. But when we realised we’d have to go to great lengths to achieve this, we went the lazy route. I’m quite happy to concede that the hoops were only there to jump through because of patriarchy, but they were hoops nonetheless and, as I’ve repeatedly said, the name itself meant little to us.
Mr Sixer, less sanguine than I, has read and taken umbrage at some of the comments here. He’s still got some adolescent firecracker (like Chris’s) about him, bless him. And he insists that I mention the final decision was mine. Apparently, when I realised the amount of bureaucracy involved, I said “F*ck this for a game of soldiers. We’ll have your name.”
If he says it, it must be true. I’m too busy walking five paces behind him to gainsay him, of course. (Joke).
I love her clothes … wonder where she got that stunning cream dress with green detailing from – anyone know?
Also drooling over that dress. I showed it to my husband yesterday and he said, “oh, you’d look great in that. Why don’t you get it?” Its probably some couture dress that costs a mint.
The dress is amazing. Amal is unbelievably photogenic. I don’t care about her husband much, so wasn’t really interested in her in the beginning, but she is just so charismatic and interesting on her own, I totally enjoy her new pictures every time (and right now it’s pretty much every day).
I like it that she doesn’t give interviews about her “diet, beauty regimen, favourite food, favourite farts etc.” That’s smart and classy, and appropriate. So when she talks to the media, her cases are the subject of discussion and not herself as the sole subject.
Amal Clooney is not as good a name as Amal Alamuddin. Name-wise she ‘married down’.
Seriously. Her maiden name is beautiful.
Amal Clooney just makes me think of clowns and clown cars 🙁 I definitely have some weird connotations with that last name.
I agree, her maiden name was so pretty. Clooney is blah, just like the man himself (I am on a Clooney haterade today apparently).
I don´t care for the why or whatever. Her name is her name.
But for me Amal Alamuddin sounds better. It sounds like music. Amal+Alamuddin= harmony. Amal Clooney sounds chopped = Amal-cut-clooney.
I get so tired of people who insist that taking a husband’s name is anti-feminist or backwards. I thought we were supposed to be able to make our own choices. That means that whichever choice a woman makes should be respected. I made the choice to take my husband’s name. I could have kept my maiden name; I considered it. I considered hyphenating. I made the decision to take his name because I like it, it goes well with my first name and, well, I just wanted to.
I think someone’s name is a deeply personal choice and should be respected. (generic) You have your reasons for your choice, but that doesn’t mean my choice is less valid.
Yeah, I’m grumpy. It’s early, not enough coffee yet.
I agree with you, this kind of automatic backlash against “traditional” choices when it comes to marriage is… tiring. It reminds me of the press about Beyonce calling herself “Mrs. Carter.”
There’s nothing anti-feminist about following heteronormative tradition if it’s coming from an informed, thoughtful, well-reasoned place. Just my two cents.
The only thing I learnt is that Jay Z, a man more often associated with calling women ‘bitches and hos’ is legally Knowles-Carter after marriage.
Where is a ‘like’ button when one needs one?
Wow, interesting! I wonder if Beyonce did the same thing. (I wrote down thread about my friends, a couple, who adopted each other’s surnames).
A couple, friends of mine, adopted each other’s surnames. So the husband has his wife’s surname after his (hyphened) and the wife has her husband’s surname after hers. But they agreed to let their first child has the husband’s surname 🙂
Don’t many celebrity women legally change their last names but just continue to use their former name often? Just asking.
Yes they do. When JA filed for divorce her last name was Aniston-Pitt. Same thing with Reese Whitterspoon when she divorced Ryan whathisface.
LOL Whatshisface ..ha 🙂
I kept my name. My last name is pretty and unusual in the US, and my husband’s is very common. I like all my vowels and weird consonants.
This kerfluffle about Amal A becoming Amal C is ridiculous. People are fixating on this for the same reason they fixate on the royals: common nobody becomes famous somebody based on what their genitals are doing with a famous person.
I’m freaking out because I’m tired of seeing them in the media, I’m shocked George decided to go this route with all the coverage. She can do whatever she wants because it’s her name.
I don’t have a strong desire to get married but I’ve thought more about it since I hit 30, I’m undecided on changing my last name. I like mine and it’s part of who I am, I can’t imagine not being that person anymore. I think it would feel more like I belonged to my husband, why can’t they take our last names? And what’s up with still using Miss, Ms, and Mrs? Why don’t men have to disclose their marital status? Even my 7 year old noticed that and said it’s weird.
Yes what about a “Mr” equivalent that applies to all women.
Well, kudos to everyone for a lively debate. I am disturbed, however by how many of the pro-change comments evoke the idea of choice, as if just saying that we can choose is a magic, get-out-of-jail-free card to defend anything. A woman can choose to walk several steps behind her husband, as sometimes happens in my neighborhood, but that does not make it any less the insult to every girl or woman on the planet. Words matter. Identity matters. The notion that one would just give an essential part of one’s identity – its name – out of “laziness,” as has mentioned in other comments, is frightening. Trust me, after 20 years of marriage and motherhood and having my own name, it takes no more work or energy than changing; less really, than changing how you are known in work and society. Lots less.
Exactly!!!!
A favour, Kelly, if you don’t mind. If you want to highlight something I’ve said, could you do it where I’ve said it? I’m lazy in more things than naming conventions dontchaknow and so would have missed your point had GNAT not suggested I scroll down for a comment of hers. I do like a right of (lazy) reply and it would be great if you could ensure that (lazy) me gets it.
You misunderstood me. Identity was VITAL in the choices made by Mr Sixer and me. In both our minds, we took on a new identity when we founded our family. That naming conventions seemed superficial to us – what with being lazy an’ all – but seem profound to you is fine. If you feel deeply that your individual identity as a woman is essentially undermined by a name change, then you should keep it. My identity is not rooted in individuality. It’s rooted in the commonality of my family unit. The name itself is a convenience; a mere decoration. The only thing that matters is that the members of my unit share it. It could be Arsehole or Idiotface for all I care, so long as my three significant others share it.
Bravo, sixer. My name, in all honesty, is almost an afterthought. I don’t even really think about it. It does not define who I am as a person. It defines me as being in a family unit with my boys, and that’s about it.
While I do not agree with all of your points, I take the one about grouping my comment with where your original one was. My apologies and I appreciate the heads-up!
I disagree with your assumption that believing I have the right to choose my last name means I would also support a woman choosing to walk 20 steps behind her husband. I find that offensive, arrogant and nonsensical. It was important to me that my husband and I had the same last name. We are a marriage of equal partners, and your comparing me to someone who would walk 20 steps behind her husband is insulting. In fact, my first response to you was cut, so I’m trying very hard to be polite. You have the right to keep your father’s last name and to believe it is an “essential” part of who you are. I have the right to believe that sharing a name is an important part of being a family – to me. How dare you tell me otherwise and say it is demeaning? How would you like it if I said your keeping your own name means you don’t truly love your husband or that you want him to walk 20 steps behind you? I wouldn’t say that, however, because I support your right to choose what you are called, and I don’t presume to know what you think.
Sixer and GNAT, you both articulated perfectly my feelings about name-changing. Props, I could not have said it better. How anyone could make the leap from changing their name to walking behind their husband beggars belief. There are so many reasons a person might want to change their name. My husband’s name is distinctly Central European sounding. Mine is very Anglo. We considered hyphenating and it sounded dreadful. We wanted to create our own family unit, our own family identity and while we could have chosen to go by my last name, but his just sounds nicer. A person’s name is just a tiny part of their identity, he11, a quick google search will show most people that their full name isn’t even original, they are one of 1000s.
Sisterhood hug, anyone?!
I need one about now.
Another point about a name change is that it doesn’t say much to anyone outside your acquaintance…..if I meet Serafina Sixer or Godiva Goodnames, I don’t know whether or not that is a married name, I can’t assume anything……so it’s not some declamatory act of subservience to The Husband.
(We DO need to address titles before the next century……we can’t go limping on with a choice of 3, it’s ridiculous, patronising and timewasting. We need one, catch-all title fir an adult female, indicating absolutely *nothing* else, not even her feminist credentials. We need a female ‘Mr’. But that’s a separate argument, for another place.)
When Mr Sixer gets in, I shall tell him that he is henceforth to be known as Godiva Goodnames. I LOVE that name! And y’know, just for the sake of anti-patriarchal inversion, I think I shall become Godivus Goodnames. Then we’re all happy, right?!
This is interesting and amusing and startling, all in equal measure.
I tend to just use *ms* for everyone. It seems to envelope and include all without presumption.
Sighs
Of course! My point is though that it doesn’t satisfy everyone. Loads insist on Mrs or death. Online forms…..tick appropriate box. Banking paperwork…..tick box. No man has to feck around like this, or be asked if they are Mrs or Ms. I believe it’s an important part of general undermining of our seriousness.
Whatever we pick tells others something about us, even if it’s a proud thing. I don’t want to say anything about my marital status or even my feminism to some twerp in a bank.
Ms will not win out in the end because of the millions of proud married women who see Mrs as an achievement and will never relinquish it. For that reason, I forsee a future in which all adult women are styled Mrs. France has recent legislation doing exactly this ( huzzah!)….. We are all ‘madame’. I wish!
Sorry…..this is OT and I didn’t intend to veer orf course like this…..just ignore me!
@Chris2 – Nope, not going to ignore you, your point is both relevant and interesting. I’ve always been annoyed by ticking that box for as long as I can remember. Even when I was young, innocent and unmarried, I refused on principal to tick Miss. These days, I leave it blank most of the time and if some ‘twerp’ points out my omission I tell them to just pick one at random and get on with it.
Can’t speak for others, but I certainly don’t think “choice” in this case is a get out of jail free card.
Your comparison to “walking behind her husband” is not at all the same in my mind. If a woman does that, it is primarily because it is what is expected of her (via religion/culture) and her choice in this matter would be predicated on that expectation… there may even be repercussions if she chooses otherwise. This is oppression against women and the opposite of true choice.
No one expected Amal to change her name; in fact most of us expected she would not. In that environment, where she had no expectation or religious doctrine being forced on her, she made a choice. We can agree or disagree with that choice, but it was a choice based on what mattered to her.
And as a @ genevieve pointed out above,
“Well, change your name or not – if you’re going in with your father’s name, either way, your identity is founded upon some guy”
So really, even keeping your maiden name means that you are still identified through patriarchal society. The only way for women to rally against that is to change their last names entirely, loosing the confines of any association with men.
This makes no sense. Changing your last name is not the same as saying I am a woman and therefore less than a man. Some people want the same name as their husbands and children. You can hyphenate or not. You can stick to your maiden name or not. Either way it is your choice and trying to run around screaming feminist is getting tiresome. Being a feminist is about being equal in everything and not going around and berating others for their choices.
You are disturb @ Kelly over people’s choice when it comes to names? Wow, #firstworldproblems
Amen.
Exactly. I don’t exactly understand women who say they chose their husband’s last name because it would be less confusing for the children. Says who? And at any time, did the husband insist on taking his wife’s last name? I’m not seeing a lot of that here.
When a child is born, she or he has no concept of last names. If the child grows up with parents who use their own last names, then the child would see that option as normal too.
I don’t see this option as scarring or confusing a child for life.
If the kid asks why, then explain why. It’s not as if the parents are being asked to explain astrophysics.
I read yesterday’s discussion and it seemed like more people agreed with one another. I’m not sure how that translates into the discussion having been a blowout argument.
Interesting points were made from both sides.
I’m surprised she did it but in no way offended. I most likely wouldn’t change my last name because it’s rather unique and I don’t have any brothers and my first name wouldn’t gel with Smith or Jones.
On the other hand a lot of women I know changed their name because they’ve always secretly hated it. One of my friends changed hers but gave her kid a last name totally unrelated to either family. It’s all about choice.
This…………..I’m not buying her ‘brand’……..or anyone’s. I’m not a brand, I am a human.
me and my husband come from a family who names their children with one name only (scary thing when trying to fill in compulsory First Name Last Name fields since we only have One name).
so, to make our children’s lives easier, we took the first syllable of his name and the last syllable of my name as our children’s Last Name; not that i wanted to come last (am competitive that way) but the inverse didn’t work so well… catastrophically not well.
Alamuddin is so much more poetic and pleasing than Clooney. He should have taken her name since he’s the one that needs the brand change and upgrade.
*tests it out* Starring George Alamuddin. Produced & directed by George Alamuddin, “I never talk about my new private life,” said George Alamuddin – and, in his Thameside dreams – Lord & Lady Alamuddin.
See, so much better.
Her life, her choice. Although I’m thinking Amal Cloooney will be more palatable to voters than Amal Amaluddin when George makes an inevitable run for public office.
First women were bullied for not labeling themselves as feminists. Now they’re going to be bullied for taking their husband’s last name? Whatever happened to the word “choice?”
I think the problem is that there still isn’t actually that much utterly free ‘choice’ people feel pressured for all matter of reasons externally from their inner thoughts to change their name.
When society has an expectation for you to change your name it isn’t a total ‘choice’ is it?
And that is the Cultural expectation in many parts of the West.
Feminism became a movement precisely because women had no voice. They were viewed as property of their men and named accordingly.
Changing your name from your father’s name to your husband’s name is a choice, but it’s a choice to continue the age old notion that women are men’s property.
Here is a radical notion, how about you choose to use your mother’s name as a last name and or have your husband change his name to yours?! I bet this suggestion shocks you and your first indoctrinated instinct is offense that I could even suggest such a thing, but you know, a real world example of a famous guy who has taken his wife’s name? Jay Z. Yes, Jay Z, married to Beyonce, is legally KNOWLES-CARTER after marriage.
I’ve known people who have done both of those things, lak. And I respect them, just as I respect anyone who has chosen to take their husband’s name. Choice.
@LAK get real it’s not shocking. It’s only in US where people change their last names upon marriage. My best friend is from South America her last name is her mother’s last name. Babies down there take their father and mother’s name to make a new name.
Oh please, LAK, everybody knows someone who has taken their mother’s last name. It’s not uncommon or shocking. My husband offered to change his last name to mine, but we ultimately decided to use his. My decision was not based on the idea that women are men’s property. You sound so out of touch with reality. Like you’re about to get on a soapbox and astound women with the fact that they have the right to vote. It’s 2014. We know you can take whatever name you choose, for whatever reason you choose. Thanks for the update, though.
Ladies: I come from a culture where we don’t change our names at all. No societal pressure to do so and no one is confused. Has been this way for centuries. I am perfectly aware that name change on marriage is a peculiarly western thing, with the incidences where mother or wife name being used being the exception rather than the rule.
However, this thread and yesterday’s thread was full of comments from women who insisted that the only name change on marriage had to be from father’s name to husband’s name. And justified their choice because of the children – I come from a culture where our names are unique and families frequently have different names amongst parents and children, so another one of those western ‘traditions’ that makes no sense to me given it’s history.
I added a pre-emptive paragraph about the shock of women using their mother’s names or their husband’s taking their names precisely for all the comments made yesterday and today. And guess what? Here you all are to school me on the subject which is the reaction I expected. It shows that your particular examples of mother/wife name change aren’t as frequent as you protest.
Why so indignant GNAT? It’s 2014, and yet people continue a tradition that is rooted in patriarchy so excuse me while I make my soapbox bigger and higher since people tend to continue traditions, someone needs to point it out. If you are ok with your name change, why are you so defensive at my post?
I stand by my original assertion, which granted is coloured by my non western culture, that it is ridiculous to insist on a tradition rooted in patriarchal indoctrination which removes the identity of a woman for simply being a woman. If we are going to blame it on the children, as many comments are doing on this thread, then how about the children carry their mother’s name and the husband changes his name or hyphenates to include his wife’s name? Or better still give them their own unique names? That’s how we do it.
LAK
you have insulted me, condescended to me, lectured me and spewed your rude, patronizing bs at me for two days. That’s why I’m indignant. You have every right to do whatever you want with your name. I seriously could not care less what you do about that or anything else. Just stop telling me what to do with mine, stop presuming you know my motives, stop behaving as though you’re the only person in the world who is entitled to an opinion, and stop winding on and on about things anyone of average intelligence already knows.
Apparently you can choose, but only if you choose the “right” way.
😉
Well said @ sighs
Exactly. Self-righteousness at it’s most nauseating.
You get all the likes.
GNAT: this comment is just plain rude and says more about how you feel about *your* choices than anything I or anybody else has to say on the matter.
Thank you, LAK, for lecturing me on politeness. I’ll add that to the list of things you know everything about.
I don’t have any problem with her changing her name. Klooney is more Hollywood than Aladin. Their pr team publicly announced the name changing like it’s a big deal, so of course it’s going to get a public reaction, positive or negative.
I’m a high-powered sales executive and I changed my last name when I married at 34. A lot of people were surprised as my maiden name was cool and easy to spell. I don’t want children of my own, but I changed my name to not be the odd one out in my full-time stepfamily. I didn’t want it to be ‘them and me’. Plus, I like that I share my husband’s name – I think it’s romantic.
I’m still the same person – an independent, free spirited, business woman who is also a feminist of sorts. It was my choice and no one elses.
I think its great she changed her name. It’s really no on else’s business…
Well, when you visit your OWN family, isn’t you and your husband “us and them”?
@superstep said it’s NO one else’s business & certainly not yours.
Yep and I agree with you. To me it would be romantic. My last name came from my father who changed his last name to his mother’s last name. He wanted nothing to do with his father and refused to go by the last name he had up until he turn 18 and changed it. So in my case I would be keeping the last name of the matriarchal part of my father’s family 🙂 I would still change it though to my husband’s last name if I married or maybe hyphenate it.
I’d rather think about where George is while she is in Greece. Do you think he is sitting in his English country manor in his tweed jacket and briar pipe reading an Alan Titchmarsh magazine about when to plant his brussel sprouts in his allotment or wondering when the Cheese Rolling festival begins in Gloucestershire and who to invite to the Shin Kicking Championships in the Cotswolds?
Ah yes, with his loyal spaniel Daniel panting at his feet, a pot of Earl Grey and crystal tumbler of Laphroaig at his side, a book of Chaucer on his lap with Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “The Lark Ascending” playing softly in the background…..nahhhh, he’s down the local getting ripped on his 4th pint of bitter.
There is a shin kicking festival in the cotswolds? Where do I sign up? ….off to google!
LAK
Don’t miss swan-upping in Downham, and swan-downing in Upham! Both handy for Muchbinding-in-the-Marsh.
@LAK, Yeah you can join in. You can stuff your socks or trackie bottoms/jeans with straw, but if your into pain, you don’t have to. However you are not allowed to wear steel capped boots any more (damn elf n safety) and there is a free ambulance ride if you need it.
Chris2: you are pulling my leg, right? 🙂
Sueperb: I am a hockey girl of several decades standing, I don’t think I have any feeling in my shins!!! 🙂
What I’m wondering is, where’s Waldo?? Mr. Sanchez, that is…… My guess is prolly sit tin’ on Georgie’s lap while the official Mrs. Clooney action-packs her way through the Parthenon.
She took his name becasue she wanted to and she has better things to do than spend her day discussing it.
Some women are accomplished enough that their name is not thier total identity, nor is thier husband or (gasp) children.
Mother of God – Is Clooney paying you by the word or something?? Is this what it is? is this why despite the wedding being over everywhere has at least 2 stories a day about her, him or them? 3 articles on the same none story her arriving in Athens with name change – stop it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Amal stories get a lot of clicks and a lot of comments. That’s why there are multiple stories about her.
I agree that these stories continue because people respond, but people respond to the options they are presented. Read the book “The New Media Monopoly” by Ben Bagdikian or watch the movie “Network”; both biased (as expected) toward their authors’ points of view but both great iluustrations of the impact of the consolidation and “tabloidization” of our media resources. They explain it better than I ever could. To paraphrase Murrow, “the fault is in ourselves”–I would just add “but not entirely.” Escapism can be fun, but don’t forget to be smart.
Personally, I am more perturbed by the fact she’s using her high profile to campaign for the Elgin marbles to be returned to Greece. As far as cultural property arguments go, there is just as strong of a British one as their is a Greek one. Great works of art have their own stories, separate and apart from the place and time they were first created; the saga of how the marbles made their way to Britain, and survived two World Wars, is now part of their story.
In recent years, the riots in Greece, coupled with budget cuts targeted at museum and archaeological site security, has directly resulted in the destruction and theft of priceless art and artifacts. How exactly does the Greek government justify hiring a wealthy foreign attorney to “consult” on the Elgin Marbles, while simultaneously cutting the funding for museum security?
+100
Exactly! I am more interested in her going to Greece about the Elgin Marbles. IMO that’s a hotbed of controversy.
I’m guessing there was a “name change” clause in the contract she signed when she accepted the payoff.
THIS. Lol. The skeptic in me says she got some extra cheddar for the name change. Clooney is a traditionalist at heart, and let’s face it the title of Mrs. Clooney is a better “publicity” and “extra perks” tool than Alammudin. She is no fool. I’ve heard the pre-nup is in the 20 million range. Love is great. Love is grand, but ensuring a hefty retirement nest egg is just plain SMART. Especially with such a long time commitment phobe like George.
I can see that being the case. I’m sure George suggested she change it.
I’d call “Clooney” Celtic rather than Anglo! 🙂
Well spotted!
I too have a beautiful, sing-songy maiden name. I never ever thought I’d change it, but now that I’m engaged (to a wonderful man with a very boring name), I’m having all kinds of conflicted feelings about it. I’m thinking more in terms of loving my partner and his family and wanting to be a part of that team. I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do. I hate to hyphenate. I like the idea of a short name. However, I doubt I’ll ever drop my maiden completely. Anyway, my point is that you can be a successful, independent, career-driven woman and still WANT to take your husband’s name. I think the main thing is that you don’t cave to external pressure and you make the choice that is right for you. It’s not as if anyone in her professional life isn’t going to realize that Amal Clooney is her (a distinct difference from my case).
You could always add it as another middle name. I considered that.
Personally … there are a lot of crazy people in my husbands family. While I love his immediate family for the most part, there are a few individuals who’ve pissed a lot of people off over the years. I didn’t want to just become Erinn __husbandsnamehere___ I actually hyphenated to keep my own name – and to add his as well. Our children will likely have his name, though I might toss in my surname as a middle name as well if we have a child. My grandfather was given his mothers’ maiden name as a middle name as well.
I use my maiden name as my middle name, so it’s on all of my official documents. I didn’t care for my middle name anyway. Just decide what you want and it move on to the important things – like having a lovely life with the person you love. Congratulations!
That’s exactly what I did too. My maiden name was difficult to spell, but it’s perfect as a middle name. A nod to the heritage, too. I was elated to take my husband’s name!
This is all such tedious nonsense. Even by gossip mongering standards.
If it’s too much of a hassle for men to bother doing…
I guess I’m alone here, I read through the comments and I am truly sad that she didn’t keep her identity, because now, what, Geoerge “owns” her? That’s what a last name is for, refer to the history of taking a name. And yes, it’s a choice, but, what, a choice to be owned by a man?
I will never take a man’s last name, and my son wants a hyphenated name. I not exactly freaking out, but I am disillusioned that she is truly a woman who can stand on her own.
Please tell me what’s so “surprising” about her drinking alcohol? You sound obsessed with her to be surprised about something so minute.
When I married my husband 25 years ago, I took his name simply because I came from another country, had an odd-sounding foreign name and didn’t want to have to constantly spell it out to people. My two sisters-in-law stayed with their own names, which was presented to me by my mother-in-law as a shining example of feminism and independence. Fast forward 25 years and I’m the only one with a career. Taking or not taking your husband’s name does not mean a thing, really. Sometimes it’s only a matter of convenience. Of course, marrying young helped to make this decision, I didn’t have any significant accomplishments, diplomas etc. yet.
the things that people carry on about absolutely baffle me. I don’t get what the big deal is.She’s not the first married woman to take her husbands last name and she won’t be the last. It’s their choice.
I want that dress.
I cant believe that Amal by changing her name wod cause so much commotion.
I like that in my culture kids get the mother’s and the father’s last name. We can opt to change or not and when we usually do, we take one of the the last names we have to add the husband’s name.
I didnt see the big deal about Amal hanging her name. Yes, her last name sounds better. But it was her choice.
The uproar didn’t really surprise me initially, as for whatever reason there are a lot of women who see this as a feminist issue. I get how some feel you are almost claiming a property, but I think it is a bit overblown and not so much a real woman’s issue as your name is just a name and shouldn’t really affect anything that significant. She did have a choice to, which in this instance I think does make a big difference. Still I am surprised at the staying power of this debate.
I prefer her maiden name to Clooney but whatever. I think she’s absolutely stunning, George picked a winner!
My husband took my last name. Mine meant more to me than his, and our kids have mine as well. It is an individual decision.
I did it because I just didn’t feel like answering questions about weird sounding and unknown to Americans letters in my maiden name….some may say I’m a ninny for it but really people? – there’s more than enough in life to stress about…
Amal C. is fabulous and reading about all she has achieved as Amal and not George’s wife really makes this obsession over name even more ridiculous.
What you choose to call yourself is just that… what you call yourself. It’s your choice and your identity, no one else’s.
I agree, I don’t see why this has become such a big deal. I happen to love my last name, but I’m not opposed to changing it or hyphenating when I eventually meet someone and get married. But I have always said, and I stand by this, that if I don’t like my future husband’s last name, I’m not taking it. Just that simple.
Why is everyone freaking out about Amal AmLooney’s anything?
I’m only freaking out because I heard that brides-to-be are stampeding to get a copy of her wedding dress. I don’t get it. That dress was so dull.
The same was said about Kate’s wedding dress, but not many actually copied it.
The name change –WHO CARES? What I find especially puzzling is that Greece can’t get good legal advice from lawyers within –Greece!!! Why does Mrs. Clooney need to be suddenly doing this? Smells like a major –and I do mean MAJOR–PR stunt!! On ET last night there was a clip of her in her “meeting”–they were in a room that was mostly all glass–and photogs were furiously snapping photos. I mean, seriously, this is bizarre beyond words!!
+1
So true. I’m interested in her involvement with the Elgin Marbles.
Perhaps she didn’t put any thought into it and she just took her husband’s last name as is tradition.
I don’t believe this. It’s when you keep your name that you get shit from people. Perspective is much more common than getting grief for taking your husband’s name. Also, Kaiser, why is it “surprising” that she drinks wine? That comment struck me as odd.
Whatever she wants! Still say it won’t last more than two years.
I don’t think it will last either.
All I get from this is that I really want to start learning more about wines.
For sake of the post, I’m on the her name her choice bandwagon.
I don’t get it, either. She’s an adult woman making a decision that impacts her. Yeah, yeah, I get the whole, “Women are property of their husbands” connotations in taking a name, but on the flip side, a woman’s maiden name is also very likely to be patriarchal in origin itself; at this point, there is no way out of the hole. If a woman wants to change her name, fine. If she wants to hyphenate, fine. If she doesn’t want to change it all, fine. If HE wants to take her name or hyphenate, also fine. We’re past the point where we can argue that women in first world industrialized nations don’t have the access or agency to make these decisions.
If she hyphenated, it would be really long and doesn’t exactly flow well together. Her AMEX card can only take so many characters.
And if we’re choosing between our dad’s name and our husband’s name, how is one choice more feminist than the other?
I’m in my early 30’s and have been married for 11 years. At this point, my last name is just as much “mine” as it is my husband’s. He doesn’t “own” his pretty common Anglo-Saxon last name.
I don’t really care one way or another but she should’ve kept her maiden name or hyphenated, Amal Clooney just doesn’t sound right, the names don’t fit together.
Ha, that point brought up in the last paragraph makes a lot of sense. I have a friend who comes from a Polish family and her last name is very complicated. She’s really proud of her roots and she loves her dad to death, but she has considered switching the order of her last names (we get both names on Latinamerica, though not hyphenated) because she’s tired of spelling it to people all the time. On the other hand, though, having an European last name like that opens a lot of doors. We’ve got a pretty crazy complex of inferiority towards Europeans around here.
… Anyway, it’s her choice and I’m still trying to figure out why this is even a topic of discussion.
Aye. One of my teachers in high school had her husband change HIS name to hers because it was Anglican and easier to pronounce for English speakers. Pretty interesting to encounter that when I was in high school.
“Everybody” is freaking out? For the record, I don’t give a rat’s bum about Whatshername.
+1
I totally get it. I was born with a complicated, multi-syllabic, always misspelled Danish last name. Then I went in to marry a man with equally complicated, multi-syllabic, always misspelled Italian name. So I totally understand the theory of her changing her name just to get out of the constant hassle of spelling and pronouncing her name for people. It gets old.
That actually sounds neat. Now you’ve got me curious. 😉 My last name probably isn’t as interesting.
It’s not a big deal but she should have kept her Arabic last name. Amal Clooney doesn’t sound right and it takes away from her persona, I think. More importantly however, Amal eats?!!??! Where’s the food? I see no food.
Well, her choice. I think she wanted the ‘fame’ name as well as a non-Arabic one.
I simply cannot wrap my head around the fact that this has generated so much debate. I avoided yesterday’s post because I thought it was nuts how heated it got. Today’s is almost as bad.
I just cannot understand why anyone would GAF about whether a woman would change her last name or not…just so bizarre.
Apparently some people weren’t finished making the same point over and over.
That seems to happen a lot around here.
Yup…really hammering it home…with a sledgehammer.
Well I’m sorry to bore you, but having these sanctimonious lectures about how my sharing my husband’s name means I’m not a feminist, have no identity of my own, want to walk 10 steps behind my husband and am setting a bad example for young women the world over really piss me off. And I will continue to say so whenever someone has the gall to say that they know my motivation or anything else about why I did it, or presume to tell me what I can call myself. These people have insulted and misrepresented the very core of who I am, so I’m sorry if I’m repeating myself when I say they can take their high horses and shove them.
Yup. It’s completely irrelevant, even by celeb gossip standards.
It surprises me how much hate this woman gets when all she has done is get married and pose for pictures. Heck, I don’t think we’ve even gotten an interview by her.
I’m amazed too. Something doesn’t feel ‘right’ about George’s whole courtship and wedding shebang, so I side eye George a little bit (I can’t believe she was interested in him, as I imagine him to be one of those guys that spends an entire date talking about himself), but other than that? They’re two grown people who decided to get married. For whatever reason. I’m a whole lot more interested in her as a person, than I am with George. If they ever get divorced, I look forward to TMZ leaking that prenup, but other than that? Don’t get the hate. A good point was made about her being comfortable with cameras/paparazzi. You can laugh at her sense of fashion. Nothing else. She’s married to a celebrity, and works high profile cases–YES, the paparazzi are going to be interested. No brainer.
Save the shade for George.
George’s PR machine can make her Famous and a face much of the public recognize, but what it CAN’T do, is make people like her or dislike her, that is something the Public and people will decide or have decided for themselves.
Most of the comments about her across all media in public discussions commentary sections that I’ve read has been quite NEGATIVE from the public and not all of those comments can be just thrown off as being haters or trolls , when there are well over 1000 comments at a time for some articles on her. So George’s PR is accomplishing one thing, she is FAMOUS, but it is the public who will decide for themselves if they like or dislike her.
People can respect her educational accomplishments but just not warm to this woman and they don’t need to explain why they don’t.
Degrees, Credentials, titles, fame , education CAN’T make the public warm to a person, if they don’t.
Liking a public figure or disliking them is an intangible, that can’t always be explained.
PR machines can make a person famous, but they can’t make the public like, dislike or warm to the person, that’s up to the public.
I happily changed my last name when I was married. No one could ever spell my maiden name correctly, which would result in constantly having to refill paperwork out, confusion and correcting everyone and their mom when they spelled my name incorrectly. I also didn’t want to deal with hyphenating my last name, because who wants to write out two last names all the time, too much hassle. It’s a person’s individual choice and it’s their name, no one else has to go by it and it doesn’t effect anyone but Amal herself. I can’t believe anyone would question her feminism over it.
I love it. Very romantic to want to take her husband’s name. Now, I hope she never has a reason to change it back.
“Duggar it, Amal!” I have spots on my computer screen from the water that came out my nose when I read that. Gold.
Of course it us her choice, but what us ut about our society says that it is we take the husband’s. It’s patriarchy and I am kind of surprised because I thought they were more progressive. I am also surprised because she us a professional woman with an established practice but I guess people won’t have trouble finding her. This majes me think even more that the Clooneys have political ambitions.
If she gets pregnant I’d be VERY surprised. She’s George’s beard. Period. A pregnancy would just be to throw more people off his track.
Don’t be side-eyein’ haters, y’all! I just be touchin’ my hair, sippin’ me some fine-ass Pinot, and rainmakin’ me some major cred for Doughty and the boo. And I be lookin’ mighty fly today, if I may say. Jackie O. and Carolyn B? They ain’t shiz. They NOTHIN,’ Mr. Paparazzi-man. You hear me? NOTHIN’!!
To acknowledge her new husband? *facepalm*
Couldn’t care less about her name, I just need to know where she got that DRESS.
The way she holds this wine glass…
Daily Mail has more photos of her today. Her style is spot on, I have to say She is rocking some great clothes that look fantastic on her. But she is loving the attention and her boss is using it to their advantage. The press is eating her up over there in Greece.
They have a clip of them on a panel discussing the issues. She is very poised. They asked her something about Clooney at the end, and she had a great comeback.
I said before that Clooney has his hands full with her. Is she going to become his Diana , where he begins to resent that all the attention is on her, eclipsing him in a way when they are on the red carpet, etc.,together, or will he like it, like his prized possession on display? Time will tell.
sorry but i can understand if u want to change yr name after u get married but on the other hand keeping clooney as her last name just screams ‘ look at me look at me’ i am famous because of my hubby . judging from what i can see and sadly read abt gc and her – she likes the public eye a little too much imo – her wedding seemed so over the top for someone who has been so low key before she hooked up with clooney and now ??? also i thought that she was this big hot shot lawyer in the uk but she doesnt seem to be anything more than a junior one from what i can see
People lost it not because they don’t like her, but because she’s a powerful woman in her own right and she went and did something so “non-feminist” as change her last name to that of her husband! She might as well have quit her job, got knocked up and started baking chocolate chip cookies all day.
The only thing I took issue with was the fact that the press was having a field day over something as trivial as a name change. I don’t care if she’s a powerful woman or not, she chose to change her name and it isn’t my place to judge her for it.
Of course she drinks alcohol, she married George Clooney for God’s sake.
“Normal” women almost always take their husband’s last name, so why shouldn’t she? Amal Clooney has a nice ring to it. I’m still not clear about why people gripe about this woman so much. She seems fabulous.
All I did was roll my eyes over the fact that this is somehow newsworthy. Someone wake me when she does standing cartwheels and backflips in her heels and pants suits out of the blue in front of the stalkerazzi.
Of course she’s take his name. Branding.
Though the lack of hyphen is strange. Even Caroline kept Bessette and hyphened Kennedy. Who wouldn’t just drop their maiden name to fully take Kennedy???