Nepal, Aug. 12 -- Imagine an invisibility cloak that follows a woman wherever she goes. It hides the right half of her body and makes it transparent. A man stands behind her, making her body appear half hers and half his. Nobody finds it strange because people believe that a woman's identity is inextricably linked to the men in her life. An invisibility cloak sounds mystical, something that can only appear in fantasy movies. But if you look more closely, a woman has walked around with it since her birth. It is her surname.

"I will be removing the surname from my citizenship card when I grow up", I declared while cleaning the dining table when I was very young. My mom turned around from the kitchen stove and gave me a furious look. My fat...