The small dark room in the 1980s had no lights and only a few wooden boards covered with old cloth. My mother slumped on it and used all her strength to bring me into this world. Her cold hands hugged me tightly and her cheek was pressed against my little face. That was my first warmth.
My father, on the other hand, only left a disappointed "Hey" and turned around to urge my mother, who had just given birth, to clean up. The preference for boys over girls was an old idea engraved in the bones of this family.
I am the daughter who is not expected. The way I grew up was full of disciplines such as "girls are useless" and "marriages should be arranged by parents." Even the phrase "if you don't listen to the elders, you will suffer the consequences" have become shackles that bind women. My mother's marriage was an arranged one, with no love and only daily necessities. She didn't want me to make the same mistake again and used her thin shoulders to build a small world for me.
This is a true personal experience essay: I write about how I struggled in an environment that favored boys over girls from childhood to adulthood, how I awakened under the protection of my mother, how I broke the fate of "women have no right to choose" step by step, and lived the way I wanted. Maybe you have experienced similar grievances, or maybe you have seen such old thoughts. I hope we can all find the strength to grow from each other's stories.
Concept: The shackles of old ideas on women