From ksaycoci@nermal.santarosa.eduThu Jun 1 21:15:16 1995 Date: Thu, 01 Jun 95 16:36:05 -0700 (PDT) From: Satjadham To: scl Cc: laolit Subject: Raising Boys to be kings, Girls to be Slaves This story happened a long time ago while I was still attending UC Berkeley. It was a story written from my wife's perspective. Satjadham presents: Raising Boys to be Kings, Girls to be Slaves. Sish.. Sish... came the sound of the frying pan. With one hand holding the baby, I used another hand to flip the beef-steak. Sometimes, both the cry of the baby and the sound stemming from the stove fan made such an awful noise to the ears. That's the routine of Phu Gning Lao - another day, another cooking. What's worse was nobody cared. As a Phu Gning, I was entitled to cook for the whole family. And as a mother, it was my job to take care of my own kid. To be fair, I came to terms with that concept. But what I didn't understand was why I, being also the children of my parents, got treated differently. As I saw, Phu Sai in my family, were raised as kings. They weren't expected to cook. When food was ready, my parents expected me who was busy all day to serve each one of them even though they were not children at all. My mom who complained to be tired all the time brought the food to my younger brother's room though he was not sick. She even washed the dishes for him when he didn't bother to do it. What I don't understand was why she got energy for him whose only job was to study, but not for me who, at the same time, worked, cooked, took care of the kids, shopped for food and managed the house. Was it the way Lao families raised their kids? Boys to be kings, and girls to be slaves? It was so sad that the one who needed the support and encouragement the most got instead the extra work and no help. If this was the case, how could I, Phu Gning, have time to study and succeed in this world? Looking at my kid and the one who was to come, I swore that, no matter, what sexes they were, they would be treated equally and have the same opportunity to make the most out of themselves. Hak phaang Kongkeo Saycocie P.S. Please email any comments to