Sorry God, we named her Sorry
by DesiGal

In many Asian cultures, begetting a female child is the biggest curse a family can endure.

Aapni Dhikri Ro Hak blog talks about families where they named their daughters "Maafi", literally meaning "Sorry", as a act of requesting forgiveness from God.

She is Maafi. Maafi in Hindi means 'Sorry'. She is the fourth girl born to her parents. They were so detested after Maafi's birth that they sought forgiveness from God. That is why they chose to name their fourth girl child 'Maafi'. Sorry God, no more daughters please.

Like a lot of times, I find that I've arrived at a blog a few days too late. In this case, it's almost a month, but do check out the Aapni Dhikri Ro Hak (Give your daughter her rights) campaign.

Submitted by DesiGal (view blog) on Wed, 03/29/2006 - 00:30
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How does one respond to

How does one respond to this? I think on our own history of oppression of women, and we don't have much of a pedestal to stand on in looking at other cultures.

Still, my mind sees two images. There is the one named sorry, but there is also her beautiful spirit that I'd love to see thrive and succeed in this world. If only... the rest of us did not put roadblocks in her way.

Thank you for this posting, thought provoking as always!

Nelle

Submitted by nelle2nelle on Wed, 03/29/2006 - 19:42
 

At least she's not one of the "missing girls"

India is cracking down on doctors who aid parents in ending pregnancies for the sole reason that the resulting child would be a girl. I'm prochoice but I find practices to limit the number of girl children in some parts of the world disturbing.

Submitted by Lisa Williams on Thu, 03/30/2006 - 00:17
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