Woman Legally Changes Name to Website Address

October 14th, 2008

Promotion anyone?

You can call her CutoutDissection.com, Cutout for short, but just don’t call her Jennifer.

The former Jennifer Thornburg — whose driver’s license now reads Dissection.com, Cutout — wanted to do something to protest animal dissections in schools. The 19-year-old’s new name is also the Web address for an anti-dissection page of the site for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, where she is interning.

“I normally do have to repeat my name several times when I am introducing myself to someone new,” she told The Asheville Citizen-Times. “Once they find out what my name is, they want to know more about what the Web site is about.”

The Asheville High School graduate who’s working in Virginia helped create a policy at her high school that allows students who object to dissections to complete an alternative assignment.

Despite her legally changing the name, she said most of her family members still call her Jennifer. “It will take me a while,” said her dad, Duane Thornburg. “She’s still Jennifer to me. I understand why she’s done it. Believe it or not, I totally respect it.”

I’m pretty undecided about this. Is Jennifer’s name change completely activism-motivated, done solely based on her views and beliefs, or is this about some nerd desperately seeking attention while raising awareness for her cause? I have no idea, and I think she’ll change her name back to her birth name before I even take a stance.

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