I just need to let off a bit of steam today and protest about a bit of sexism. This has nothing to do with VAT but the simple point is that it's causing me hassle which means that I can't fully concentrate on business or anything else. And the reason it's a hassle is because I'm a woman which means that I multi-think most of the time so when there is something in one area of my life, business or personal, which is irritating me, then I find it difficult to ignore it and concentrate on other stuff.
I've been busy over recent weeks trying to sort out some fairly important financial stuff, mostly personal in nature. And because some of it relates to the time before I was married and since I divorced the husband in question and I chose to retain the marital name because it's my professional name and I couldn't be bothered to go through the hassle of telling the world that I'd changed my name again and having those uncomfortable conversations about your personal business.........
Okay you get the drift. I like my old married name and kept it, which made life a lot simpler. And that divorce was a long time ago and frankly not something I ever really think about nowadays.
No you can't have your own money Mrs!
Until now. I'm re-organising certain financial matters and my financial adviser tells me that I have to provide my original birth certificate, marriage certificate and divorce certificate to prove who I am. And until I do that they can't do anything much or give me access to my own money.
Now the point is that because it's usually only we women who change our names on marriage, men don't have this problem. So it's sexist because men don't have to go through the palava of proving who they are. And actually I'd have kept my maiden name (Strickland, a great name!) apart from the fact that I hated the idea of having to be called "Miss" or "Ms" simply because it reminded me that I still hadn't found a husband plus the whole world knew that I hadn't found one!
Let's go European
I hate this stupid tradition in this country where men are called "Mr" regardless of their marital status but women's titles change according to their status. As far as I'm concerned, that sort of thing is private so why the hell do we have to announce our personal details to the world because of an age old tradition. Even when I got married, I spent ages sending letters and copies of my marriage certificate to various people/organisations so that they would know my new "identity".
I think it's about time we moved to the European tradition where adult ladies (ie anything from mid-20s upwards) are called Madame or the equivalent, so you have a bit of privacy over your personal status. And then we might get to a situation where women are more likely to use their family names professionally or financially and you don't have to deal with this whole marriage/divorce change of name palava.
It's just hassle at the end of the day. But it's hassle that only women have to deal with and it's archaic and stupid and sexist and it's about time we sorted it all out. And of course I know where I've stored the documents concerned so I'll be able to send them off tomorrow and it won't be a big issue at the end of the day. But for today, it's done my head in.
Okay rant over and next time I'll talk about something relating to VAT. And I hope you've had a more productive day!
Marie