I recently went to my local council with my fiancé to give notice to marry and was both shocked and appalled to learn that mothers are not included on marriage certificates in England. In Scotland and Northern Ireland mothers are included, but not in England. This essentially whitewashes women out of the history of their own children. Mothers carry their children for nine months and then go through the pain of labour and risk their lives to give birth to them, apparently this isn’t enough to be included on their marriage certificate.
It was upon reading this excellent guest post on Mumsnet by Ailsa Burkimsher Sadler that I decided that enough is enough. So I have signed her campaign and you should to. After all, without women the world would cease to exist. Yet the children that we have get a man’s surname slapped on them and then we are not even important enough to be included on their marriage certificate. As Alisa says in her blog post: “Did you know that marriage certificates in England and Wales include a section for the names and occupations of the fathers of the bride and groom, but the names and occupations of their mothers are not allowed to be recorded?
In Scotland and Northern Ireland information about mothers is included. Civil Partnerships also recognise mothers, unlike same sex marriages, which mirror their heterosexual counterparts.
‘So what?’ I hear some corners of the internet cry – ‘haven’t we got bigger fish to fry?’ But imagine you’ve brought up your child on your own – when the most important day of their life comes along you won’t be legally acknowledged, and the absent father will be. And if you’ve raised a child together, imagine that only he is considered important enough to give his blessing to the union. And it’s about more than a hurtful snub – it’s about the erasing of women from the civil and legal system of which marriage is a central part. We’re writing women out of history, and it seems indicative of a society where decisions are made by men to suit men. ”
Enough is enough: please also sign the petition so we can end the sexism. 33,000 people have so far. Thank you.
Catherine
Follow Alisa here: Twitter: @nameequality