Originally published at: Police seeking healer who advised pregnant woman to hammer a nail in her head to ensure a male child | Boing Boing
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Police seeking healer who advised pregnant woman to hammer a nail in her head to ensure a male child
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Ummm, I think the charges need to be brought against the husband here. No fan of snake oil but in this case, priorities…
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What a strange angle to drive a nail into one’s own head. It’s hard to believe she didn’t have help. @docosc I know that people achieve some really weird self-injury. But what’s the horse/zebra for something like this?
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Perhaps particularly so as it should be nerd-ily underscored that the sperm determines the offspring’s sex. And there are endless science papers on trying to distinguish between X bearing sperm and Y bearing sperm (“hmm… might not a Y sperm swim a bit faster as its payload is a bit lighter?” …kinda thing). Here’s one of many: link and another: link …
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Was it actually necessary to say this?
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Zebra? How about winged unicorn! It does speak to the desperation of this poor woman to appease her husband, despite the fact that is the husband’s genetic contribution that determines the genetic sex of the fetus. Perhaps she drove the nail into the wrong head?
and @smilr
Was it actually necessary to say this?
I am going with a hard no.
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I’m guessing that he drove the nail into her head, is what I’m heading towards. The angle, and the force required, seem like it would be difficult to achieve on one’s own.
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Decidedly so, but I have seen some bizarre self-inflicted injuries. Desperation is a cruel mistress.
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It’s the male sperm that determines the gender of the offspring. When the male as in this case is firing blanks, you can’t blame the woman. For what it’s worth, my two daughters are both brilliant women and i wouldn’t trade them for anything.
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To quote the sign-off from my favorite medical history podcast: Don’t drill a hole in your head.
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This is why in India we have a law against sex determination before birth. All diagnostic centers have a big sign saying “No sex determination done here”.
The happy side effect: gender reveal parties are functionally impossible!
It’s not even that he’s firing blanks, is it? It’s just that the sperm that get through are X.
I doubt either husband or wife in this case has enough education to know this fact (and the guy would probably reject it even if he did - how can it be his fault? He’s the guy!)
But I’ve always harboured this idea of confronting these macho creeps who make their wives go through multiple pregnancies and then divorce them for not bearing a male child - make it generally known that if there’s any “blame”, it’s the guy’s and see how it screws with their mind…
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¿Por qué no los dos?
Now if we can just get Biden to urge all Americans to not hammer nails into their heads…
I hope you take his message to heart.
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That poor kid. I somehow doubt that someone who thinks driving nails into their brain is a good idea is going to make a great parent.
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Scenario 1: insert nail, boy is born.
“See, it worked!”
Scenario 2: insert nail, girl is born.
“You clearly didnt do it right”
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Scenario 3: insert no nail, boy is born
"What a virile man!
"Scenario 4: insert no nail, girl is born
“What the hell is that woman’s defect?”
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That is, unfortunately, very much the most accurate version of the story.
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