What's in a Name?

"What's in a name?  That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet"
-Romeo & Juliet

Hey there.  I'm back.  And since no one reads this, I'm betting no one missed me!  But I missed me writing, and that's all that matters.  I recently noticed something that I think has been bothering me for most of my adult life, though I hadn't realized just how much.  It's hard to pinpoint the exact time that I must have noticed this strange social phenomenon of assigning an identity to a woman's name, but it might've been around the time that the Ting Ting's came out with that "That's Not My Name" song...

Anyway, I recently watched a movie based on the famous Manga series Berserk.  It was fantastic, but there was one ink blot on an otherwise perfect canvas: the Princess in the story, Charlotte.  Perhaps because she had the same name as me, and perhaps because I had noticed other literary Charlottes (besides Charlotte Bronte, bless her heart) in the past being subjected to identity reassignment surgery, I became irritated by her apparent lack of strength.  Physically speaking, she was clumsy and weak, and emotionally speaking she was extremely shy, blushed a lot, and behaved with perfect inferiority in a man's presence.  I noticed that Sex and the City's Charlotte is quite incapable of choosing husbands who want the same thing that she wants, and that her husbands are very controlling.  She is the picture-perfect example of the old docile housewife stereotype, even going so far as to give up everything that sex could be for her to please her husbands.  

The thing that bothered me so much was not simply that she was as her name suggests, petite and feminine, which for any Charlottes who haven't looked up the meaning of their name, is what you will find under "feminine of Charles."  This led me to try to look up the meaning of the masculine version, Charles (or Carl).  I was shocked (and by that I mean not at all) to find out that it literally means "man" or "free man."

Point being: it seems to me that people have been taught to somehow presuppose and assign gender characteristics to a person's name based on what they've been taught that the name suggests.  I am none of these things, and I've met some Charles' who are far from what society would consider as possessing "manly" traits.  This phenomenon is dangerous and leads to social stratification.  

In my hunt for the truth I came across an article that suggested that women who apply for a job and who possess a very feminine name such as "Emma" or "Ella" tend to be overlooked or stereotyped and pressured into taking jobs that are generally reserved for women who are easily objectified.  Names like Candy, Kiki, and Vanna were thought to be possessed of "dumb" women, while names such as Mildred were thought to belong to "hardworking" women.  It doesn't just go as far as the intelligent vs. dumb stereotype, but there are many aspects and facets to this name discrimination phenomenon.  Perhaps we have been informed by historical figures, historical meanings of names, or celebrities who literally give us a bad name, but whatever it is, women (and men!) everywhere are experiencing the negative affects of this whether we realize it or not.  So be aware!

And remember, don't date a Susan ;)