Originally Posted by
Throwaway_panther
Yeah, I know it's a huge anxiety mindset and not necessarily rooted in fact -- both sides of my family are FOB, so there's a lot of "mystery" to our health backgrounds (literally the story goes that a great-grandfather died after "laying down on cold ground" ... :rolleyes:), and my father is actually chronically sick, but I mean, we've got some boys thrown in there so we should probably be good, haha. DH's family has none of these things (though his mother struggled with infertility for years), so there probably shouldn't be any worries for some recessive thing.
And yeah, definitely embarrassed about wanting a boy for some of my reasons -- I consider myself a feminist, which informs part of my desire for a boy, but to be valuing a boy over a girl seems like the ultimate hypocrisy to me (even though I don't think that of anyone else?! Just myself...). I'm forever grateful my DH isn't like the many who "needs" to have a son, though I guess the double-edged sword there is that he's less invested in swaying (including the "every other day" BD pattern being not enough :owl:)
It's interesting though, about external pressure. I've definitely noticed a fair share of girl swayers on here specify that their families put a lot of pressure on them to have girls, or are the only "chance" for an all-boy family to have girls. I even noticed an acquaintance on another site deal with her own mother publicly belabor over and over that she HAS to have a girl -- and this poor woman struggled with infertility and losses for years! I actually said something to someone making gender cracks, because I just felt so badly for her.
I'm thinking that it's the case of "external validation" -- if we think we're fat, and ONE person says we're fat? Well, shoot, maybe we are? So if we want a boy, or want a girl, and then hear someone outside of ourselves echo that desire -- or really, project that desire -- onto us, it becomes tenfold.