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Identity Crisis

23 July 2009
Written by: Sherri W. Posted under Uncategorized

Okay, so a month or few ago I talked about wanting to get back to blogging and to write with more focus on self-esteem and body image.

Which is, for me, very much a feminist issue.

And as I’ve contemplated doing more writing on these topics, and of encouraging folks to come here and read whatever-it-is I have to say, I kinda keep tripping over my blog name.

I mean, “The Danger of the D-Cup” phrase stemmed from one of those Rack of Doom (TM Kate Harding) moments — like the time I went to see Rocky Horror, and literally 21 grains of rice fell into my cleavage during the wedding scene.* And in that moment, with friends, it made total sense to joke about “the danger of the D-Cup,” and when I started up a blog I expected to be read by no more than a few close friends, keeping that joke going made sense to me.

Now, in this new context, with this new aspiration, I’m not so sure it makes sense. As I stand today, do I really like the me I’m presenting if my blog’s name falls so completely into the trap of defining myself by a sexualized attribute of my anatomy?

I don’t think I do. So I need to start fresh with a different URL.

But the next question that opens up is a huge one for me: What name do I claim for myself?

The first option is simply to claim my actual name, of course. So do I follow the model of Shapely Prose and just turn my name to a URL? Two key issues here:

  1. Am I really that brave?
  2. Is my name too difficult a URL to handle? (Multisyllabic Baltic surname here, and if I were ever to hyphenate with my fiancee’s multisyllabic Baltic surname, all would surely be lost…)

The other option is some sort of clever and witty phrase, which also raises two key issues for me:

  1. I am not always so good with coming up with clever and witty phrases, and I fear anything I did come up with would be too derivative of blogs already out in the fatosphere. (This, anecdotally is why it felt like such a miracle to come up the “D-Cup” back when I did.)
  2. Even if I am lucky to come up with a clever and/or witty title, how can I be sure to come up with something that has staying power, so I won’t be facing the same re-naming challenge that I’ve put myself into with this current name?

Oy. Comments, thoughts welcome. I am for for the moment well and truly stumped.

* Yes, I counted.


2 Responses to ' Identity Crisis '

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  1. KB said,

    on July 24th, 2009 at 12:02 pm

    I’m sensing some ambivalence.. back in May you said you liked it too much to give it up. OTOH I read both posts at the same time, so my reading doesn’t account for the time distance between.

    Anyway. My advice is, if you yourself really want to change it for your own reasons, go ahead. If you’re worried that some people coming to read it will be bothered or offended, then leave it.

    FWIW I like the name and appreciate that it converys multiple levels of meaning.

  2. Sherri W. said,

    on August 6th, 2009 at 9:51 pm

    Yeah, the time distance between early May and now was a significant gap — Dad died suddenly on May 31st, and between that and the wedding, I’ve been doing a lot of self-examination about what’s important to me.

    I ended up setting up a new shingle elsewhere a week or so ago under another blog-name. Just felt like the right thing for me to do.

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