Patriarchy, man
Jan. 31st, 2020 11:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mme_hardyMy son is the only son of an only son of an only son, which is to say he's the only [surname] going back three generations. Except for his elder sister, but she doesn't count. (note: his father is the eldest in his generation, but has three sisters.)
His teachers explained to my son that, as he was the eldest in his generation, he was the authority and responsible for his cousins. His paternal grandfather indicated the same thing.
My son was somewhere between bemused and horrified; in any case, he has no interest in exerting a hypothetical authority over cousins and second cousins he barely knows. Nor does he find it plausible that he has any sort of authority over his sister.
But, as I repeat, multiple people, including non-relatives, have told him that he was.
Traditions can be baad.
His teachers explained to my son that, as he was the eldest in his generation, he was the authority and responsible for his cousins. His paternal grandfather indicated the same thing.
My son was somewhere between bemused and horrified; in any case, he has no interest in exerting a hypothetical authority over cousins and second cousins he barely knows. Nor does he find it plausible that he has any sort of authority over his sister.
But, as I repeat, multiple people, including non-relatives, have told him that he was.
Traditions can be baad.
