ON WOMANHOOD: CULTURAL DESIGNS

Not too long ago, my nine-year-old daughter and I watched an episode from a historical drama about the family that founded the Ottoman empire. To my utter surprise, she asked me why it was that each time the birth of a child was expected, the expressed wish was always for a boy and not a girl. I gave her as good an answer as I could. But I cannot be sure that my response was satisfactory, even though she did not ask a follow-up question. Another scene from another episode was about a group of young women from the tribe who were attacked by roving bandits while they were travelling. To the bandits’ chagrin, these women were adept at fighting with swords (which both men and women in the tribe carried) and came close to decimating the bandits. I observed my daughter’s excitement and