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Re: Emerson
Boys names on girls always irks me a lot. It's simply sexist. This is amplified by this name ending in "son." Additionally, Ralph Waldo Emerson is an incredibly annoying author, and only one notch under Thoreau on the pretension scale.
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I'll be sure to let my best friend know she is sexist.
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I doubt your friend is actively sexist - she has simply been raised in a man's world. Even today, men are perceived as superior to women. This is why being a tomboy is fine, and even encouraged among young girls, while being a sissy would lead to suspicions of mental illness. Many people think giving a girl a boy's name empowers her, "levels the playing field." In fact, it further slants it. It's telling the child "Man is good, woman is bad. We want you to be good, like a boy, instead of bad, like a girl. In fact, we expect you to be a good boy instead of a bad girl."
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That's a very impressive sounding hypothesis, but I think she really just likes the sound of the name Emerson. She also likes the names Annabelle and Ruby and has a university degree in sociology and women's studies, if that helps you to believe she's not a poor brainwashed simpleton. :)
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To each his own.
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