To ask why little girls seem to be preferred?

[foxtaildream]

Is it just me who has noticed this?

I have a couple of close friends who both have 2 girls, and when I asked them, they had never been asked the same thing in reverse

I have 2 girls and have been asked if I’m going to ‘try for a boy’ more times than I can count. I’m fact I was asked today (by the father of three girls!)

I funnily enough was a child once and hope to be a mother in the future I'm also in a world full of parents and children!

Worldwide male babies are not aborted or sold off because of the preference for female ones. It is female children who are rather less preferred, on a worldwide population level.

Western countries tend to prefer girls though... www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/children/10163872/Gender-selection-The-West-wants-girls-but-who-decides.html

Bella, you do realise girls play sports too? They also may not wear make up (like myself - I have never touched it ) and boys may be exactly what you are looking for - loves shopping, wearing make-up, etc.? It's personality... not sex...

Yanbu and it absolutely does exist. Iv heard some referred to as smogs (smug mothers of girls).
I think it's because girls tend to be pushed towards reading, colouring and sitting quietly while wearing pretty dresses. Boys are 'allowed' to be noisy, boisterous and get dirty.
I'm not saying I agree with any of this by the way. I have 2 ds and 1 dd all of which play with the same toys, get messy as hell, play loudly and fight. The only difference at all is that dd has nicer clothes available

I think in western cultures, girls stay closer to their families even once they're married. Whereas from what I've read about Asian cultures in particular, the opposite is true...hence why outside of western culture, boys are preferred.

There was also a study done apparently where they said that the happiest families are those with 2 girls. Closely followed by those with 1 of each

I remember when I found out I was pregnant with my first son, a lot of people congratulated my OH, and then consoled me, 'are you upset you're not having a girl' when I had my second son, and informed people I was done having children, I was met with gasps of disbelief I wouldn't want to try again for the all important daughter that all woman must have to be complete.

But as a child, all clothes fit each sex, so I don't get what clothes have got to do with it.

I think it's because girls tend to be pushed towards reading, colouring and sitting quietly while wearing pretty dresses

Again, these people haven’t met my DD’s!
What I do find frustrating though is if my DD’s are boisterous at soft play etc they get tuts and disapproving looks. The boys who behave exactly the same get indulgent looks and comments of ‘boys will be boys’.

Bellamuerte, I am glad I was not your daughter: this would have been my idea of hell.

I agree with that. It's horrifying to see a girl who enjoys running and rough play, but it's encouraged in boys as "boys will be boys". A family friend has 3 boys, the toilet is never flushed, etc. and it's apparently because "they're boys" it just encourages it.

I am the only one who thinks Bella was having an ironic laugh? I love a GSOH

There was also a study done apparently where they said that the happiest families are those with 2 girls

I've heard of this too. I believe it. I have one of each...my ds is so energetic and boisterous compared to my DD. I love them equally but I will admit that on a day to day basis, she is generally easier to look after. She will happily play quietly for hours whereas my ds basically would run riot.

In my experience people comment on how boys are 'simpler and more fun' and girls are 'bitchy and bossy' which is just ridiculous.

Every single child I know is different. Some of the girls are far more boisterous than some of the boys (which her parents hate as it's not ladylike 😒) And some of the boys are incredibly sensitive and gentle (much to his parents concern).

NoFucksImAQueen

That’s interesting I heard that marriages were less likely to end in divorce if their were sons. I also heard that daughters look like their fathers when born to help them bond.

I've really never experienced this "preference" from anywhere or anyone. I have 2 boys and 2 girls. I would say the girls are more of a known quantity to me (obviously) but I do have a different kind of closeness with the boys that it's hard to describe. No preferences though, they're all individuals.

The main thing I've noticed is the assumption that you will want your second dc to be the opposite sex to the first

I've noticed this too. If I had two(I have one), I would want the same sex as my first.

I notice this too, but not on mn, more in real life. It's interesting because in most countries, boys are the sex most parents would choose. In the UK it seems to lean more towards girls than boys. No idea why, a baby is baby.

And to the poster saying about Italian families, my dad is Italian and my nonna was so disappointed when I told her I was having a girl. She was genuinely gutted 😂. I'm sort of glad she didn't live to see my second child. She would have properly disowned me. My parents were good and had a son first and then 2 daughters so she was happy with them.

They said it was because boys could go and work on the farm and earn a living but girls weren't able to contribute that much so were a burden. I don't know why they didn't leave that thinking behind when they left the farm in poverty in Italy. Oh well. They meant well.

Lemon, why? Personally, if I had to pick, I'd want different. If you're the same sex, you're always compared by people "is she the smart one?" "is she the pretty one?" or whatever. I also don't have that 'special' sister bond, as our personalities are different.

I'm not ashamed to admit that I was gutted to find out my baby was a boy for all of the above reasons. Shops have a lot fewer boys clothes; their clothes and hair are so boring. My idea of hell is having to take my son to sports games - he will not be playing sports under any circumstances!

Oh dear.

I have definitely seen this too. Those who have two boys seem to get, ‘will you try for a daughter’ type questions more too.

It's definitely a thing. I've got 2 DSs and have experienced it a lot and will admit I did have a preference for a girl.

I recall a family member saying to me on the birth of my second DS - 'If you'd have had a girl, I would've bought the baby a lovely gift, but there's nothing nice to buy for a boy so I didn't get him anything!' Those kind of comnents don't help.

I think it starts in childhood.

What gender are most baby dolls?

Also I’m very close with my mum. Always has been. (Dad’s a twat) so I wanted that with my child.

But.

Then I married the most wonderful man I the world and realised we could make more of these wonderful men for the next generation.

So my preference evened out a little.

And after months of TTC gender preference really was the least of my worries.