Chiara: August 2009 Archives

You may not have remembered it, but today is Women's Equality Day, the day that celebrates the passage of the 19th Amendment which gave women full voting rights.

I think that we forget that women didn't always have the freedoms that we have today. It was back in 1848 that women started getting together to work for the right to vote. Remember Susan B. Anthony and Seneca Falls, NY? The 19th Amendment wasn't passed until 1920. 1920! We've only had that right for 88 years.

I often wax nostalgic about past times, and yearn to have lived way back when. But then I remember that I probably wouldn't have been taught how to read or write. I wouldn't have been able to own property, let alone vote or be involved in government. I would have been married off at a young age and my principle job would have been to have sons. My husband would have been allowed to beat me if he wanted.

Of course there were women who didn't live lives as restricted as this, but they were fewer and father between than we like to think. No, I think I'll stick with the 21st century after all.

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Two Saturdays ago, I got married to an amazing guy. It was a lovely time and I can't be happier.

One of the post-wedding tasks that I'm working on now is updating my online presence. You see, Fox isn't my maiden name. My name originally was Chiara Berlingo, but I changed my name when I got married the first time. I was just starting out in my career and I didn't really think about it. It just felt like the right thing to do.

When I got divorced, I thought about changing my name back to Berlingo. But I was already published as Fox, and everyone in the industry knows me as Fox. Most people assume that it is my maiden name. Plus, having jumped through all the hoops to change my name the first time around, I wasn't in a hurry to do it all again. (They charge you money to change your name back, BTW, as if the cost of a divorce wasn't enough.)

I've been a Fox for 10 years now. I don't overly mind the name itself... it's kinda fun to call myself a foxy lady. Though it is annoying when people think it's a porn-star name. I do miss the heritage of the ethnic (if you can still consider Italians ethnic) name Berlingo.

But now that E and I are married, I don't really want the reminder of my previous husband to always follow me around. E has always said that he doesn't care what name I go by, but he would prefer that I don't keep Fox. I agree. I thought long and hard about what I should do. After all, it's been 10 years. I could go back to being a Berlingo, but most people don't know me as a Berlingo. It would be a new name for them anyway.

So, I've decided to take on E's name and become an Ogan. It still sounds weird to say... "Chiara Ogan." Like a strange coat I don't quite know how to wear yet. But I will get used to it, I know. I've decided to slowly transition to Ogan, going by Fox Ogan til the end of the year. My first name is unique enough (I've only ever heard of one other Chiara in IA or UX) so I'm hoping that will help people realize that I've made the switch.

I know it's going to take me awhile to change all the instances of Fox on the internet. I'm pretty much spread all over it. I'm not sure what to do about logins, as many of those are not changable. I have a feeling I'll be having a duel identity for awhile.