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    What's in a Name?

    Posted Friday, November 16, 2007 12:22 PM | By Jill Hunter Pellettieri
    I can't imagine Clinton's name change really made a difference, Dahlia, though older opinion polls guessing whether it would seem to show otherwise. I suppose Clinton's thinking could be as follows: Feminists who find it backward for a woman to take her husband's name, with no retention of their maiden name, could likely still be Hillary supporters regardless, simply because they're in favor of a woman president. More traditional women who believe the woman should take her husband's name could be swayed by this statement of family unity. But it seems silly to me to think that anyone could be swayed by it as a statement of family unity, given how often Clinton has flip-flopped on her own name. Whether or not to take a husband's name is a question fraught with issues for women--I know very few who haven't spent some time grappling with how to handle this identity change. Speaking as a double-name non-hyphenated adopter like the former Hillary Rodham Clinton, that, to me, seemed like the best compromise for retaining my identity as Jill Hunter, but also allowed me to adopt a family name that my future children would share with my husband and me. Obviously it hasn't proven to be enough of a middle ground for Clinton. Does anyone know what her legal name is? Is it Hillary Rodham Clinton? She hasn't legally changed it each time she's publicly "changed" it, I'm assuming. That might more aptly reflect her true feelings on the subject.
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