Beautiful Daughters

I was just wondering why it is that a parent telling someone how many kids she has always, and I mean always, inserts "beautiful" between the number (of kids) and the word daughter(s). People don't say, "I have three strapping, athletic boys!" or "I have three handsome sons." But, people feel the need to express to others they've got beautiful daughters.

I guess this is just some thing where a woman's value is tied up, ultimately, in how good looking she is. Parents are going to be biased about their daughters' looks. Not to mention very few young girls are unattractive. They're all pretty adorable--up to a point. At the receiveing end of this message we swoon at the emphasis of the word "beautiful". OH! They're BEAUTIFUL! You made BEAUTIFUL girls! our smiles and raised eyebrows say. Do we believe them? Are we genuinely impressed? Maybe.

What's funny about our gullibility and the continuation of this kind of mildly sexist rhetoric is that chances are "no, you don't actually have beautiful daughters." The odds are greatly against your favor that your daughters are any better than average looking and most likely a little bit below. But, beauty's on the inside anyway, right?