【明報專訊】At this stage of my life, I enjoy frequent announcements of pregnancy from friends I grew up with. More often than not, mothers breathe relief when they find out it is a boy. "I am so glad it is a son. Parents have more to worry about a daughter," they rejoice. In addition to raging, I find myself in tacit sympathy with such a statement — these mothers grew up as girls, and have probably felt the oppression of women along the way. It is with tenderness that they wish to spare their child from the thorns ahead. The wish, even if sheepish (窘迫的), is understandable.