Steem4nigeria Accelerator Contest Week 57: What gender do you prefer your child to be?

Pexel

Whether girl and boy, every gender deserves the opportunity to reach their fullest potential and deserves to be celebrated by their individual strengths and this will only lead to a brighter future.

Let's take a trip down memory lane to the time where boy education was more prioritised than female education. When education was first introduced to Africa, our parents believed that boys were supposed to get educated to the highest level, because they placed boys over girls then, while girls were subjected to the kitchen and marriage.

And so our fathers didn't mind selling all their lands, properties, livestock, some even going into debts as long as their sons got the best education from the colonial masters then or abroad. This proves how expensive boys education proved to be. The same is said today in the modern world today, Boys are often harder to train in school because they have high energy levels and different brain development that makes it challenging for them to stay focused.

Pexel

It is also more expensive to train boys because they develop slowly in school, because of their high drive to succeed, they make terrible decisions that can also cause loss of a lot of money and peer pressure that can put them in trouble. All these modern developments and even the olden days developments points to the fact that boys can be more expensive to train that girls.

If I became a parent today, honestly I would want a boy child first which sounds conflicting based on my last comment but these are my reasons;

• Regardless of some biased traditional perspectives, I love tradition and in this part of the world, one of a family's legacy is the family name and usually it's the boys that carry the lineage unto their own. When girls grow up, most of them get married and then they become a part of another family and bear another family name but a boy child will always carry the father's name and pass it down to his own generation.

• In the roles of responsibility between boys and girls child, a boy child is socialized to be a breadwinner, a provider and a protector and a leader. While I'm not disputing that a girl child can do this, this is generally the role of a boy child Instead. A boy child is often seen as a future financial providers for their parents and family and is expected to look after and care for the siblings.

Pixabay

• In our society's social standing, having a boy child can elevate a family's place in society. In the sense that, if you don't have a boy child, you'll most likely be ridiculed and pressured especially from extended family members.

• Sometimes mothers connect more to male children than female children and that is one of the major reasons why I want my first child to be a boy because of that emotional connection that exists between mothers and sons. A boy child loves his mother so deeply while girl child are often preferred by dads.

It's crazy that some cultures place greater value on a boy child than girl children but this doesn't change my view on how amazing they both are. But my personal preference remains the same. I would want my child to be a boy child.

During puberty, hormones tend to run high in growing children and so I think that the male gender is always more likely to go out of control and these are my reasons?

Adolescence is a very challenging period for males because of their developing emotional, physical and social complex and these are why they may spiral out of control;

• Emotional complex: Girls are often said to be highly emotional beings but honestly, I think a boy child is more sensitive and emotional. A boy child usually struggles to control their emotions especially when amongst their peers or things don't go their way which can lead to aggression, impulse behaviours and verbal outbursts. They also tend to be pressured to hide their emotions which leads them to bottling their feelings.

• Physical complex: Because a boy child's brain is still maturing, testosterone hormone levels can increase leading to impulse behaviours when under duress, pressure,etc. These changes can lead to insecurities in a boy child or feelings of self consciousness.

• Social complex: Adolescence can cause a boy child to go under the influence of peer pressure which can lead then to engaging in risky behaviours. If there's a change in the family dynamics, it can lead to conflict which affects this teenage boy causing stress and inability to engage socially and academically.

This is an endless debate that has been ongoing for generations. I'm not going to pick sides because I don't think one gender is better than the other but this is what I think;

Pexel

I think that this statement is a testament to the promotion of gender equality and a break of stereotypes because this statement has made people recognise that girls too have potential and capabilities that are equal to boys and challenges any notion that ever limited opportunities to girls.

This statement has also inspired a lot of girl childs to pursue their dreams and passions while driving healthy competition between their opposite gender just to foster progress and growth.

All in all, boys have their own role to play as guys, and girls have their own role to play as girls. Those 2 genders aren't equal and never will be but it is clear that girls can perform as well as guys can when handed the opportunity and shouldn't be limited to any opportunity that they may want to try out because they may actually be able to overperform.

So with this few points of mine, that is my honest take on the issue of gender and the role it plays in our society. I invite @ngoenyi, @usoro01 and @kidi40