by Ann Major

Created on: July 06, 2010   Last Updated: July 12, 2011

Attitudes, traditions, customs and much lip-service has been given to promote manhood and to denigrate that of women.  Disfavor towards women has been reflected throughout the annals of history; reflected in the age-old fairy tale of the knight in shining armor, come to rescue the damsel in distress, whisking her away, to live happily forever after.

Principle of the "First Born":

Traditionally, males have always been favored as the "first-born", especially by fathers.   In Western society, excuse is given one cannot play ball or do all those masculine activities with a girl, as can be between father and son.   A male is desired to carry on the family name, to create an immortal lineage, much to the distress of a female offspring. Of course, that has given way to a more relaxed attitude concerning wanting a boy offspring first, feminism has brought about some changes in social mores.

This favoring of males is very much demonstrated by Asian societies, especially China.   Daughters are looked upon as encumbrances and a liability to the family organization because they are not considered bread-earners and contribute little to family survival.  Often abandoned or sold off to richer families, this love of male has come back to haunt them.  In China, because all parents have chosen to have a boy first, this priority has resulted in very few females to go around when it is now time for these males to marry. 

Women as Chattel:

Women cannot be favored when they are demeaned at home and have all human rights taken away from them.  Arranged marriages still exist in many countries and have interfered with female freedom.  Historically, dowries were created to entice suitors to take a daughter off a father's hands.  Upon marriage, women often had to relinquish property previously inherited to the husband.  Does that sound like favoritism to you?

Previously,  Native Indian women could not own property.  If she did, it was automatically her husband's upon marriage.  Should an Indian woman wish to leave the tribe or reservation, she automatically lost claim to any property she had.  Of course, if she should marry outside her race, her possessions were immediately confiscated.

As for East Indian women, the tradition of being burned with her deceased husband on a funeral pyre states she is not a person without the presence

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