(no subject)

[http://users.livejournal.com/-lavender-blue-/]

What do you think of the name Spencer for a girl? It's one of my faves!

Also, in general, what do you think of using names for girls that are typically used for boys? I love Dylan and Shane for a girl too :)

Comments

[sandtree.livejournal.com]

Well, when you say "Fuck people who ______ " I don't think it's incredibly unreasonable that some might be offended.

I don't get how having names defined as male names and names defined as female names contributes to a narrow definition of gender. Gender exists. Names are used to quickly identify people. If you see 'Jennifer', you think 'female'. You probably also think, 'western or American'. Likewise, if you see a boy named Muhammad, you probably think, 'Muslim male'. I wouldn't advocate giving a white Christian kid from Iowa the name 'Muhammad', for basically the same reason I wouldn't advocate giving a girl a boy's name. It gives people false assumptions, and creates a huge amount of confusion for the kid to have to deal with. If you want to fuck with gender stereotypes, change your name to a male name, but let the kid decide for themselves.

If you had a son, and the name Jessica 'felt right', would you name him Jessica? It just seems to me that a lot of people who complain about narrow definitions of gender would never even contemplate using a girl's name on a boy.