Daughter
Female offspring
title: "Daughter" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["family", "women-by-role", "terms-for-women"] description: "Female offspring" topic_path: "technology/programming-languages" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daughter" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Female offspring ::
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Doddy4GenerationsAug1931A.jpg" caption="A 1931 photograph of four generations of [[mother]]s and daughters"] ::
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Self-portrait_of_Constance_Mayer_with_her_father.jpg" caption="Pierre Mayer with his daughter [[Constance Mayer]], painted by Constance Mayer"] ::
A daughter is a female offspring; a girl or a woman in relation to her parents. Daughterhood is the state, condition or quality of being someone's daughter. The male counterpart is a son. Analogously the name is used in several areas to show relations between groups or elements. From biological perspective, a daughter is a first degree relative. The word daughter also has several other connotations attached to it, one of these being used in reference to a female descendant or consanguinity. It can also be used as a term of endearment coming from an elder.
In patriarchal societies, daughters often have different or lesser familial rights than sons. A family may prefer to have sons rather than daughters and subject daughters to female infanticide. In some societies, it is the custom for a daughter to be 'sold' to her husband, who must pay a bride price. The reverse of this custom, where the parents pay the husband a sum of money to compensate for the financial burden of the woman and is known as a dowry. The payment of a dowry can be found in societies where women do not labour outside the home.
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Table_of_Consanguinity_showing_degrees_of_relationship.svg" caption="The number next to each box in the Table of Consanguinity indicates the degree of relationship relative to the given person."] ::
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Photograph_of_Betty_Ford_with_Daughter,Susan_Ford-NARA-_186845.tif" caption="First lady of the United States [[Betty Ford]] with her daughter [[Susan Ford"] ::
Perception
In the United States, the birth rate is 105 sons to 100 daughters which has been the natural birth rate since the 18th century. In the US, prospective parents seeking to adopt a child display a slight preference for girls over boys. In fertility clinics that enable sex preferences, daughters are usually preferred over sons. In the traditions of various Abrahamic religions, Luluwa is regarded as the first daughter to have ever existed.
Daughters in literature
The role of the daughter has been an important theme in literature, especially when exploring relationships between family members and gender roles. Through exploration of the relationship between children and their parents, readers can draw conclusions about the impact of parenting style on the growth and development of a child's character and personality.
Notable daughters whose character and development has been impacted by their parents in literature have been:
::data[format=table title=""]
| Daughter | Parent/s | Novel | Author | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth Bennet | Mr Bennet & Mrs Bennet (née Gardiner) | Pride and Prejudice | Jane Austen | 1813 |
| Jo March | Marmee March | Little Women | Louisa May Alcott | 1868 |
| Francie Nolan | Johnny and Katie Nolan | A Tree Grows in Brooklyn | Betty Smith | 1943 |
| Scout Finch | Atticus Finch | To Kill A Mockingbird | Harper Lee | 1960 |
| Meg Murry | Alex and Kate Murry | A Wrinkle In Time | Madeleine L’Engle | 1962 |
| Astrid Magnussen | Ingrid Magnussen and Klaus Anders | White Oleander | Janet Fitch | 1999 |
| :: |
References
- Explanation of dowry
References
- (1988). "Burning Widows, Burning Brides: The Perils of Daughterhood in India". Pacific Affairs.
- (November 2013). "Child adoption matching: preferences for gender and race". LSE Research Online.
- Rosin, Hanna. (8 June 2010). "The End of Men".
- Cole, Andrew. "Jewish Apocrypha and Christian Epistemologies of the Fall: The Dialogi of Gregory the Great and the Old Saxon Genesis." Rome and the North: The Early Reception of Gregory the Great in Germanic Europe: 157-188
- (2016-01-11). "30 of the Best Parents in Literature".
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