Personal Narrative: The One Child Policy

I was born with a price.
Literally.
Unlocking the gates of life came with an entrance fee: a fine my parents had to pay to bring me into the world, a world that already discriminated against me on the sole knowledge of my sex.
As a female first born in China, I experience discrimination everywhere. The establishment of the One Child Policy was an example of favoritism of the male gender and the upper class, who get away with having a first-born daughter, or even a second child. Even among family members, my own grandma never failed to remind me of her thoughts on me being her first grandchild. With my cousin, Anthony, born just 12 days after me, she insisted that I address him as someone older than me. I refused, deciding early on that living a life based on the boundaries between genders does not apply to me.
However, being a short and petite female, I was often met with reluctant looks, stereotypical assumptions, and skeptical questions when I take on tasks that are ‘vigorous.’ “You like rollercoasters? You’ve always wanted to go skydiving? You like to run? Oh. You don’t look like the type.” Yes, I may seem quiet and small but I am an athlete and there are things I know about my body that others don’t. As a runner, I have trained myself to push through physical pain that my body is feeling achieve what my mind wants my body to achieve, to reach for the impossible because anything is possible. I know my limits and I know what my body is capable; I know how strong I am and how strong I can be, both physically and