It's a boy :-(

Princess Kiko reportedly gave birth to a son this morning.

While I am of course happy that she and the baby are healthy, I am disappointed (but not surprised) that it's a boy. Not only was the timing of her pregnancy way too convenient to have been accidental (her pregnancy was announced at the height of the debate about whether to allow a female to take the throne), but it is just too, too coincidental that she had a boy. So now Japan can sweep the whole debate under the rug and take three steps back into the Dark Ages, from which it was just beginning to emerge, when it comes to gender equality.

My response to people who claim that it's "tradition" and "culture" to have a male take the throne? That's a load of crap. There have been female emperors in the past, and "culture" is an ever-evolving concept, not something set in stone.

For the sake of females everywhere, I hope this country's (primarily old and male) lawmakers get their heads out of their a**es and make a change, though I'm not holding my breath. What on earth is the harm in letting a female succeed to the powerless figurehead position of Emperor?? I'm sick of my taxes being wasted on the ridiculous debate about it. ARGH.