Why Having Gender Preferences for Unborn Children is Rooted in Cisgender Projection & Toxic Masculinity
AZ MAGAZINE, 26 June, 2018
AFROPUNK, 28 June, 2018
Natalie Alleyne
Gender preference in unborn children is a common thing. Most people seem to have some idea of whether they want a daughter or son, long before a baby is even on the way. I did. These days I wonder, how healthy is gender preference in unborn children?
It’s likely we’ve all heard these sentiments:
‘I want a son first so he can protect his little sisters.’
‘I want a boy because girls are too much trouble.’
‘I want a girl because boys are too boisterous.’
‘I want a girl/boy so we can do girly/boyish things together.’
Traditionally all of these sentiments implicitly assume our unborn children will be cisgender. This is potentially a murderous expectation placed on an unborn child, particularly if parents are ignorant in understanding that this may not be the case.
Meanwhile, the sentiments reflect views we have typically about cisgender people in society. One, for example, is that cisgender people apparently our society. Let’s briefly explore the sentiments and their place in context of society.
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