Some people in the media are virtually high-fiving Kate for "pulling off" having a boy, as opposed to a girl.
Unless you were under a rock yesterday, you know by now that Kate Middleton, wife of William, gave birth to a baby boy. Fantastic news, and the entire world seems to be elated that there's a new happy, healthy royal in the family.
What's troubling however, is how some people in the media are virtually high-fiving Kate for "pulling off" having a boy, as opposed to a girl. CNN's correspondent Victoria Arbiter said on TV, "This is how brilliant a royal Kate is. There are women throughout British Royal Family history who have panicked over not being able to deliver a boy and here we are. Kate did it—first time."
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owBeVzZWZ3g
British Parliament proposed that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's first child—regardless of gender—would succeed to the crown, meaning that if the royal couple had a girl, she could potentially be queen of England. Now that there is a boy heir, this question won't have to be dealt with for another generation, however, Arbiter's remarks are troubling, and indicate we still have a long way to go in our thinking of girls and boys as equals. Arbiter's remarks send the message to woman and girls: you aren't good enough. Perhaps the British press could take a cue from Sweden's take on gender: the country has gone as far as creating the neutral pronoun "hen" to make sure boys and girls are thought of as people, instead of having their gender precede them.
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