THE FUTURE OF THE WOMANS OWN NAME AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF FAMILY STRUCTURES

Woman's own name can only be considered to be of less value, except in some cases, it is the father's name which is passed down to the children. To judge from this, men and women are not treated equaly, and coomen, on the whole, question the patronymic system more often. Younger women, however, who are nearer to their socialization period, are more strongly attached to it than their elders, while men seem to be less attached to their prerogatives when they live in free union. While those in executive jobs are more open to change, it is in this social category that the proportions of men and women differ most, especially in the case of divorce. The name then appears to be at the heart of the issue: men most often want only their name to be given to their children, while women also want their name appear on a permanent basis. The reprecance of younger women to change, and the awareness of opposing interest are non negligible points of resistance, even though significant trends in opinion observed during recent years testify in favour of recognition of woman's own name.