The Gender Issue

I saw this article pop up in my Facebook feed and took a look. Y'all know I can't resist an article by a new or newish mom. I find them so funny. Just like experienced moms found me a long time ago. Anyway, this one lists 10 things people should never say to mother's of girls.

Seriously, no one EVER said any of these things to me and I have FOUR daughters.

Maybe it's because I'm not very approachable or maybe people around here aren't that stupid. Who knows? Seriously, the dumbest thing anyone ever said to me was when my MIL said that the screaming we were hearing HAD to be coming from one of the girls because boys don't do that. It was her grandson.

Mostly, people said supportive, kind things IF they had comments at all.

Here are the ten things the articles lists:

• Aren't you going to try for a boy?
• Girls are so much easier than boys.
• Teenage girls are the worst.
• She probably has lots of boyfriends.
• She needs to learn how to cook.
• Three women in the house! Your husband must be miserable.
• They sure eat a lot for girls.
• You're lucky- Girls are so helpful around the house.
• God forbid if you're all on your periods at the same time. 
• Girls are so emotional. 

And, of course, here are my responses:

• Why in the world would I want do that? I grew up with three brothers and my husband is a MESS. I know what boys are REALLY like. So, I repeat: Why in the world would I want to do that?
• There is no way this is an intelligent, educated statement. It seems to me that raising kids, regardless of gender, is NOT easy. Rewarding? Yes. Best thing EVER? Yes. Easy? NO. 
• Ha! To be perfectly honest, I've never met a teenager who was pleasant to be around 24/7. They've all got attitude running amok regardless of their gender.
• No she doesn't. Because she's way too smart to fall for the lines (that NEVER change no matter which century we live in) that boys keep feeding her. 
• NEEDS to learn how to cook? No she doesn't. She should learn to cook if that's something she wants to learn how to do. In order to feed herself when she grows up. NOT so that she can feed some coddled boy when he grows up.
• Nope. You've never met a luckier man in all your life who loved having daughters.
• Have you honestly met a GROWING kid of either gender NOT eat a lot? During a growth spurt, every kid I've ever known eats a lot. 
• Not my girls. House keeping was NEVER high on the list of things the lovelies did while growing up. Not a single one of them enjoy it to this day AND, only one really puts forth the effort. 
• Way to spread an old wives tale.
• Guess who the most emotional person is in our family? That's right. The man. He cries all the time. Always has. It is SO freaking annoying. To all of us. He gets emotional over EVERYTHING. Even stuff that the rest of us find totally and completely NOT worthy of an emotional episode. 

Yes, there are differences between the genders. That's the way we were created. It's just a fact. I know some of us partake in the humorous side of pointing out differences once we've become adults.  But I have to wonder why that's something that needs to be used as a form of attack against one or the other. Especially when children are involved. 

What's your take on this one?