“Boy Wala Girl, what do you say, O my Lord, very sweet girl, and the best is a boy…”, a song by the Lebanese artist Elie Choueiri, in which he enumerates the characteristics of the boy and the girl and their lives, to conclude: He creates a new child, it does not separate from God, both girls and boys were created by God. "

And it seems that this old song "Boy or Girl" is somewhat appropriate for today's parties that are held "to reveal the sex of the fetus" (gender reveal), and that is at family parties, among many ideas.

The large black balloon that contains blue decorations is a sign of the boy, and the pink is a sign of the girl, which is the most common method, in addition to the "cake" covered with white cream, and inside it the color "cream" is either pink or blue, or contains pink clothing or blue.

And it has always been the practice - before the popularity of "echo" images (the image that shows the fetus and its sex) - that the couple are preparing in the fourth month for a surprise during childbirth.

A model for the decoration of the "Gender Reveal" ceremony to reveal the sex of the fetus (Al-Jazeera)

In the folklore

Popular proverbs show the preference for male birth in our societies, so if people are suddenly silent, it is said, "I left a girl," and if girls meet without a boy, it is said that the roof will fall, and "the threshold of the house will be sad for 7 days when a girl comes," and "a sweet girl is a misfortune." And “The death of the girl is a jacket,” “Oh, the girls come, oh sheila, worry about death,” and “The mother of the girl is supported by a thread, and the mother of the boy is supported by a circumference.”

What accompanies these proverbs is that the presence of a girl is inherent in shame, with few proverbs that consider the birth of a girl a sustenance, while a boy has a different joy, and "the mother of the boy deserves honor."

This may be due to the fact that the boy carries the father’s lineage and passes it on to his children, and one of his duties is to take care of his family when they grow up, as it is a guarantee for them to live a decent life, although this idea is likely to disappear with the woman’s involvement in the working and productive life.

Ilham Jbeili talks about ancient customs to know the gender of a newborn (Al-Jazeera)

The seventieth lady, Ilham Jbeili, says that before the spread of the "Echo", people used to predict the gender of the newborn in different ways. They used to sew diapers for children, and if a man entered the room they would be glad for the birth of a male child, and if a woman entered, they considered that the expected child was a female.

They also used to bring a piece of the child's clothes and throw it in the air, so if it fell on her back, they said that the newborn was a girl, but if it fell on her stomach, the newborn would be - in their belief - a boy.

Or they put salt on the head of a pregnant woman without noticing, if she scratched her nose, the newborn would be a boy, and if the pregnancy was with a belly forward without displaying the hips, or if the navel became convex, the boy would inevitably come, according to their belief.

It is said that the mother of the boy is tolerant during her pregnancy, the mother of the daughter is nervous, and the pregnant woman is more active and generous with a boy.

Elham liked her first child to be a boy, and as soon as she gave birth to him, she wished to have a girl, but her husband did not care about the gender of the newborn, and they established a family of 4 boys, two boys and two girls.

Elham considers that what happened was very fair, and she tells her that her father used to tell her that he wished to have a girl after the boy and two daughters, and he repeated that to her throughout her pregnancy, and when she gave birth to the boy, Farah greatly, and he told her that he was trying to relieve her if the child was a girl.

Laura, the daughter of Alaa Haidar, who was born several years after her brother (Al-Jazeera)

Girl or boy

Alaa Haidar is the mother of a boy and a girl, and she is comfortable that the first child is a boy, but she says that she would not have been sad if she was a girl, as she gave birth to Abdul Karim about 8 years ago, and her daughter Laura less than a year ago, and says that she was curious to experience the feeling of the girl’s presence in the family After I tried the boy.

Congratulations Al-Nouri and her three children Issa, Youssef and Moussa (Al-Jazeera)

Tahani Al-Nouri is a mother of 3 boys, and although she wished to have a boy and a girl, she now sees it unfair to think about the gender of the child she wants to have. “Once I think about the issue of childbearing, I must accept the outcome of the decision and love the next child, regardless of his gender,” she says.

Tahani knew the gender of her child before she conceived, and she said that the dreams (dreams that she saw in her sleep) showed her the sex of the fetus, and although her pregnancy in her last son was different - “They say that the daughter’s mother becomes more beautiful during pregnancy and her nose does not grow, and she loved Sugary foods are more indicative of her pregnancy according to what is known to be a girl - her dreams told her that he was a boy and this is what happened, she said.

Zahraa and John Stewart at the party to reveal the sex of the fetus (Al-Jazeera)

Zahraa Stewart, with her husband John, returned from America to Lebanon to celebrate with the family in the disclosure of the sex of the fetus, while pregnant with a boy (watch the main video of the ceremony).

She says that she would have preferred if she was pregnant with a girl, because most of her brothers' children are boys (7 boys and one girl), but she also liked the first child to be a boy, because according to her experience, it is nice for a girl to have two older siblings.

A "cake" for the fetus's disclosure ceremony, with a blue or pink clothing inside it, depending on the gender of the fetus (Al-Jazeera)

Prenatal parties

Parties were not popular in Lebanon before the birth of the child, but the mother used to accompany her closest friends to prepare the newborn's clothes with what is known as the "baby apparatus", which is dominated by neutral and white colors due to the lack of knowledge of the gender of the baby.

Today, the Lebanese celebrate revealing the gender of the newborn, either between spouses or with family and friends.

Also, part of them celebrates before giving birth with the ceremony known as the "baby shower", which is usually held weeks before birth, at a time when the mother is still able to hold a party, where relatives and close friends bring gifts, and the mother may have sent a list of items. That you need for a newborn sometimes.

Some consider it better than visiting a woman after giving birth to her newborn, considering that it is her special time to harmonize with the new life and its privacy, especially that the mother is tired after the period of pregnancy and the hardships of childbirth, so that friends have fulfilled the duty of giving gifts before childbirth.