It is a painful experience that after a woman has gone through the rigors of pregnancy and successfully outs to birth, all she gets is a slam because the baby's gender was not "male". This an d more is what some women experience in the African culture.
In most parts of the Nigerian culture, women are often blamed for giving birth to daughters. Baby gender has caused rifts in many marriages across the Southern part of Nigeria. It's been an age-long tradition which many still hold strong despite technological, scientific and social awareness that is happening. In some marriages, a child's birth that wa supposed to bring joy ends up in tears and sometimes, the marriage get's ruined all because a male child was expected.
Many parts of Africa still upholds that the male child is the real heir of a family. This is because it is believed that a female child will grow up and be married out, perhaps out to another culture, while the male child would stay to preserver the heritage of the family.
I have seen some marriages, where a man gets to impregnate another woman out of wedlock because the wife was not able to give him a male child after 5 babies. This attitude has always been traced to pressure from the man's family.
The Scientific Analogy
On the gender of a baby, science has it that the chromosome pattern in the human female is XX while that in the male is XY. This means that all the gametes (ova) produced by the female have the sex chromosome X whereas in the male gametes (sperms) the sex chromosome is c=variable and could be either X or Y. When the male and female gametes meet during sexual intercourse, it is 100 percent certain that the female will always produce an X chromosome while the production of either an X or Y chromosome by the man is 50%.
- Thus it is a constant that the woman's sex gametes will always produce an X chromosome.
- If the man produces an X chromosome, the zygote formed will bear an XX chromosome, meaning, a female baby is formed.
- On the other hand, if the man produces a Y chromosome, the zygote formed will bear an XY chromosome, meaning that a male baby is formed.
With the above analogy, it is imperative that the gender of the baby is determined by what chromosome the man produces during sex, and this means that the man is to be blamed for the baby's gender.
But will culture accept the above?
Many in Africa see child bearing as a typically supernatural occurrence even though they accept to take the responsibility of the man and the woman being intimate in sex. It is perceived that the goodwill of the woman with the gods is what helps her to either birth a male or a female child. It is a stereotype and it resides in cultures.
A boy or a girl: does it matter?
It is ignorance that has caused many women to be put through untold pains. A boy or a girl, it does not matter. Every child when trained properly and given fair opportunities can grow to become a meaningful citizen.
Despite this cultural stereotypes against women in the African culture, many women are still growing out to contribute value to their paternal family and even assuming significant leadership roles in the state, nation and the international scene.
What do you think can be done to tackle this stigmatization against women who are alleged to "fail" or "unable" to give birth to a male child in many African families? What is the situation in your culture?
