To change or not to change?

Note: having finished this and read it through I realise it probably comes across as a bit self-indulgent. Sorry about that.

Did I mention I'm getting married next June?

This post isn't just an excuse for me to squee about my wedding (I get enough excuses to do that thanks to my lovely friends) - I have a genuine wedding dilemma that I need advice on. Although why I thought posting it on my unread blog would be a good way of doing this, I have no idea. Perhaps I'll cross-post to facebook where someone may actually comment.

ANYWAY. My dilemma is this: should I change my name?

When I first started thinking about this, I thought the whole feminist* thing around changing your name when you marry was a bit overdone. My logic was that your maiden name is taken from your dad anyway, so why should it be more feminist to take the name of a man you have chosen than of a man you didn't choose?

But then I thought it over a bit more and realised this was a bit silly: the point is that your name is part of who you are, it's something you've had all your life - and you shouldn't have to change your identity just because you've chosen to enter into a committed relationship with someone. In some ways, taking someone's name *is* a bit like subsuming your identity into their own, and is a relic of a patriarchal system where you became the property of their family.

So, after all that to-ing and fro-ing, I figure the important thing from a feminist point of view is that you have a choice, and choosing to do one thing or the other doesn't inherently make you somehow un-feminist.

This being the case, the pros and cons of either approach seem to me as follows:

TO CHANGE
- I can see myself having Mark's name. This vision is strangely appealing
- It would be quite nice for us to have the same name
- It would probably make various adminny things slightly easier
- But: it would be effort
- I would need to get a new passport
- And learn a new signature
- And I would be C. Taylor, the same as both Mark's parents, which would be weird.

NOT TO CHANGE
- I like being a Berry. I might miss not being a Berry.
- It would be effort-free
- But: I would be Mrs Berry, which would accelerate my transformation into my mother
- Or I would be Ms Berry, and Ms is a bit silly.

Any thoughts on any of the above? Anyone?

~~~
* I'm going to use the word feminist throughout this blog post - this isn't the place to try and define it or to explain why I do consider myself a feminist, but am more than happy to enter into a discussion with anyone who's uncomfortable with it. Especially with those who, like Kate and Lisa, have too many crappy associations with cod-feminist literary criticism at A-level to engage with it on any meaningful level ;)