Names - xoJane

Don't Gender Me, Bro: Writing Under a Gender-Neutral Byline

s.e. smith — Thu, 16 May 2013 15:00:00 -0400

Writing under my initials for a very long time has allowed me to observe the way people relate to a writer on the basis of perceived gender, because people seem to have an urgent, desperate need to slot each other into gender categories.

"How Do You Spell It?" Life With A Name Nobody Knows How To Pronounce

Elahe Izadi — Mon, 13 May 2013 10:30:00 -0400

Having your name mispronounced is a cousin of being called the wrong name altogether. It carries with it a sense that you're somehow not worthwhile enough to be bothered with.

Unpopular Opinion: I Die A Little Inside When Women I Know Change Their Last Names When They Get Married

Julie Rodriguez — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 13:00:00 -0400

I’m sure part of this is just a knee-jerk reaction from growing up in a big Mormon family in Utah as a tiny queer feminist and feeling out of place most of the time.

"IS THIS MR. SMITH?" Life With A Gender-Neutral Name

s.e. smith — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 16:30:00 -0500

Especially now, when ambiguously gendered names are actually extremely common and names that were historically masculine are commonly used by women and girls, names and salutations are even more of a minefield than they were before.

When it Comes to Getting Work, What's in a Name?

India-Jewel — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 12:30:00 -0500

Could the ethnic name bestowed on you by your parents hurt your career?

It Kind Of Sucks When You Accidentally Name Your Kid After A Vampire

Stephanie Kaloi — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 13:00:00 -0400

The minute we got a good look at him we knew that Jasper would be perfect. AND THEN.

I Just Can't Bring Myself To Call My Girlfriend My "Partner"

Sarah Brown — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 14:00:24 -0400

Partners are second-wave feminist dykes who wear tool belts and mom jeans and fanny packs and have permed mullets and make their own flavorless soymilk from scratch. We are not those lesbians.

I Have a "Weird" Name and So Do My Kids -- Get Over It

Bolaji — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 15:00:08 -0500

By choosing these names for our children, my husband and I are setting ourselves up to be the object of ridicule on parenting websites where the biggest joke is the “unfortunate” child who has been “saddled” with a “yoonique” name.