Letter: Boys and girls

Kate Wilson
Sunday 11 January 1998 00:02 GMT
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AS AN apparently timid, inhibited and shy mother of two girls I took exception to the article "Strong woman? Chances are you'll have a boy" (4 January). I feel moved to protest at the blatant sexism inherent in the author's use of such prejudicial adjectives, creating the assumption that good, strong women produce good, strong babies which are necessarily boys.

The thesis is utter tosh. Surely Margaret Thatcher should have managed to avoid having a girl? And how does Princess Diana fit into the equation? Dominant, assertive and confident were not adjectives strongly associated with her. Possibly they would be more appropriate to the Duchess of York, mother of two... girls.

Kate Wilson

Oxford

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