Hello everyone in the healthy-bees community. I am delighted once again to participate in the week two prompt of the community. Special thumbs up go to the admin of the community for their commitment towards ensuring that this community thrives.
This week’s prompt is so interesting because it has to do with what has been affecting society and has caused more harm than good. I remember a neighbour of mine many years ago whose wife gave birth to eight children who were all females. Nobody knew this was a problem until the last pregnancy when we overheard the man saying to his wife that she would keep on giving birth until she gave birth to a male child. It was at that moment that we realized that the reason the wife kept giving birth almost every year was because the husband was looking for a male child.
Another scenario happens in my neighbourhood where a man sends his wife packing for giving birth to only female children. Six of them. The man however is bent on having male children so he decided to get married to another woman. These are a few similar cases that have eaten deep into the fabric of many societies and have caused depression and anxiety to the female folks.
One of the reasons given by society on the issue of having a male child as a man is that it’s the child that will continue and maintain the family of the man when he’s death and gone. They believed that the girls would be married off. Consequently, both a man and a woman are put under the pressure of having at least a male child. This issue has become a cultural problem that has caused commotion not only among families but the society at large.
Beyond this, most families are not interested in catering to the need of female children. They do not see the need to train them through schools.
The consequences of this age-long culture and belief system have led to many issues. First of all, it has made a mockery of the institution of marriage. Many marriages have been torn apart as a result of a woman giving birth to female children only.
Secondly, it has led to anxiety and depression among the women folks. Many women who have gone through this issue are subjected to abuse by their family members. Some are called all sorts of unprintable names and made mockery of hence causing depression and anxiety. Therefore, to avoid this problem, many women have subjected themselves to doing certain unhealthy things if they will invariably give birth to a male child or children.
It is high time some society grows above this devilish culture and embraces the fact that all children are important whether a male or a female. It is an act of gross ignorance to blame a woman for determining the gender of a child she gives birth to. A man to a large extent is a determining factor in the gender of a child.
Men should support their wives and stand by them no matter the pressure from society and the family. A female child just as a male child can uphold the family lineage to the next generation.