A couple in India has ten daughters and keeps trying until finally the eleventh child is a son. That’s how much daughters are valued. But when parents are old, sick, and need round-the-clock care, suddenly daughters are “naturally more nurturing.”
Daughters are expendable when lineage is at stake, but indispensable when labor is required. Unwanted at birth. Essential at burnout.
Sons are for inheritance, names, and social applause. Daughters are for bathing frail bodies, managing medications, absorbing guilt, and being told it’s their duty.
It’s a neat arrangement. Girls are liabilities until they become free caregivers. Then they’re priceless. Rejected for legacy. Recruited for labour.
Denied value when they ask for love, education, or inheritance, but summoned without question when it’s time to serve.
And Indian society calls this tradition. Hypocrisy.
i must have a sticker on my forehead that says “come talk to me” bc my coworkers are taking shifts standing in my office doorway telling me all their secrets