Why Do Most People Prefer a Boy?
by on 25/08/2014 4653
Also available in : Bahasa Malaysia 中文版
For as long as almost anyone could remember, boys have been favored as a child in a family. There were even recorded histories of certain cultures that went as far as burying a child alive if the child was born a girl.
While this heartless act is not widely practiced anymore and many couples and families now treasure a daughter as much as they would love a boy, there are still sex-selective abortions being practiced in certain parts of the world. For some cultures even in modern times, the deep-held believe that a boy is always better, especially for firstborn, still holds true.
Why do most people prefer a boy?
For many centuries, one of the reasons why many people believed that boys would make better children was because they can ensure the longevity of the family name. When they marry and produce offspring of their own, the name lives on whereas with a daughter, she will take up the family name of her husband.
Boys were given education and preferential treatments while girls stayed at home and learned how to cook and sew, without having the chance to develop their own minds and potentials. Many view that boys are a blessing to the family while girls are often associated with bad luck and a curse.
For families in the past before the modern information age, boys were considered a gift for they were able to provide manual labor for the family by bringing home food and money. Girls who were married off to other families would not be able to contribute anything financially for her family if not burden them more because her family need to pay dowry or bride-price to the groom’s family.
In this current time, having a boy is still preferred by many.
An American survey (Gallup Survey) done in June 2011 showed that many Americans still preferred boys to girls. This survey didn’t change much when it was conducted in 1941 and even though it has been conducted 10 times ever since, the result didn’t vary greatly. In Asia, most families, especially those of Chinese or Indian heritage, still prefer boys to girls too.
Boys are deemed easier to take care because they seem to require less attention. This may not be true for all boys because of course there are boys who like attention as well but families with both girls and boys often notice that boys are easier to look after.
Boys tend to be more independent and adventurous thus making it easy on the parents to let them go and explore. Girls on the other hand tend to be more observant and attached. Perhaps it’s due to this difference of behavior that many people prefer boys to girls.
The fear of having something terrible happen to their daughter is also another strong factor why many families prefer boys. When it comes to crimes like rape and sexual harassment, it’s more common for girls to be violated than boys. The thought of this ever happening to their girls is often enough to convince parents to prefer a boy.
For couples that feel strongly about having a boy, they are willing to try almost anything to conceive a boy.
Methods like the Shettles Method are popular among couples that want to have a boy. This method provide advice like when is the best time to have intercourse so the women’s body will favor the male sperm and also the suitable sexual position to encourage faster and better insemination of the sperm and ovum. Women who dream of having a son often watch what they eat because it is said that a pregnant woman’s diet can affect the sex of the child she is carrying.
Even though many experts believe that diet, sexual position or suitable time for intercourse have no direct effect in ensuring the sex of a baby, it didn’t stop many hopeful couples from trying. Be it through natural remedies that are deemed old wives’ tales or using modern medical techniques, the majority of us prefer to have boys to girls.
Whether a boy or a girl, more traditional families are letting go of the belief “boy is better”. People are more open to the concept of individuality and choose to see the baby as a person and not judged them based on their sex.
