Alternative endings to rudyard Kipling 'If'

[reikizen]

I enjoy the poem but have an obvious problem with the 'you will be a man, my son' ending. Does anyone have any suggestions for female alternatives?

If I remember right, 'If' was written before his son John or I think any of his children were born - he apologised profusely to John aged about ten, when John was angry that boys kept declaiming the poem at him at school, and said it had never occurred to him a future son might suffer that way. Rather like poor Christopher Robin's father dropped him right in it at school. There was a parody in a newspaper at the time:

George Percy said to his nursey
"Nursey" he said, said he
"Would you please tell father I'd very much rather
He didn't write books about me."

Yes and Kiplings Epitaphs of the War, including: “If any question why we died/Tell them, because our fathers lied" and his tireless work for the war graves commission shows Kipling felt deeply about his son's death.

Love this

I have it on the wall, typed as 'you'll be a woman my child'....definitely going to redo it as the 'hun' version