Bex is Sex

Since I live literally next door to Barnes and Noble, I often find myself there when I have nothing else to do. I'll just buy myself a cup of Starbucks, pick up a few (okay, maybe more like 20) books, and curl up in one of those amazing chairs to read.

The other day I was reading a book that urged me to find my "inner female fatale." A "female fatale," according to the book, is a woman who everyone wants to know and admires. One of the suggestions in this book was to create a new name for yourself, a sort of nickname that was a little more sexy than your everyday "Janet" or "Pam." Apparently, the author of this book felt that changing your name could change how people viewed you. Sound silly? Maybe a little, but there might be some truth in it.

When I asked my mom why she picked such a boring name as "Rebekah" for me, she told me it was because she wanted me to be respected by my coworkers when the time came for me to get a job. Huh? I ended up with a boring name so people would think "Oh, her name is Rebekah, let's listen to her!" She said names like "Tiffany" sounded silly, but "Rebekah" sounded like a pretty girl with a good head on her shoulders. Whatever Mom.

For an example of this "femme fatale" persona, the author used her own. Legally, she was Jen, but she loved martinis, and so had started to go by "Gin." A subtle difference, but not your everyday name, and it gave a little insight to her personality.

What could my "female fatale" name be? What sexy and slightly different name could possibly derive from Rebekah? A few of my friends had started to call me "Bekks" to shorten my name, just like I call my friend Rachel "Rach" and so on. Bekks was a cool name, I thought. Who else is named Bekks? Then one day a friend of mine jokingly said "Bex, you're the sex." And so, I began to go by Bex. I told a guy friend of mine that I wanted to be called that, and he said "Oh wow, that's a flirty name." How perfect! "Female Fatales" should be flirty.

This past weekend at camp I introduced myself at Bex. Everyone was kind of intruiged by it, because they had never met another Bex before.

And I found out that the book was right, changing your name can push you one step closer to achieving that "female fatale" status. Everytime someone says my name, it makes me feel special and I know that they are definetly talking to me, and not one of the million other girls with my name. When I hear the name Bex, it makes me think of a confident, funny girl, who is a little bit different. I think that's who I am, and how I would like to be viewed.

So, however ridiculous it might sound, maybe you should create a sort of "female fatale" persona for yourself. Not someone you aren't, just all your best qualities rolled up in one, with a name to fit. A name that will make you think "hey, that's me!" everytime you hear it.

Go for it.