I was born into a female-dominated family. My family is made up of my mother and my father, my three older sisters, and our pets- all female. Including the animals, we have a female-to-male ratio of 7:1. Being surrounded by that much estrogen comes with quite a variety of consequences-both positive and negative. Growing up with three older sisters- you are bound to face some friction due to the lives lead before your own. But, sometimes, those troubles are worth it, if it means growing up surrounded by the greatest people you know.
Con
When you start a new school year, all of your teachers already know you, just from looking at your last name. These teachers have taught your siblings before you and have taken that experience to judge you before class even starts. Sometimes that can be good, if your sister was a dedicated and thoughtful student who was a bit of a teacher’s pet. Sometimes that can be bad, if your sister was an un-diagnosed 4th grader who had ADD. Sometimes, even, it can be both good and bad, if both of these sisters passed through the same teachers before you.
Pro
You have someone to drive you places. As the youngest sister, it is in the job description to be a total pain to your older sisters. Whether you’re ratting them out when they have boys sneak over or threatening to tattle on them for going to a party, you soon learn that they screw up… a lot. You’re then able to use that to your advantage and start holding things over them for the benefit of someone to drive you to get ice cream. Every child goes through a bratty phase. You might as well use your resources during yours.
Con
In what can be considered both a pro and a con, comes the inevitability of sharing. When you live with sisters, you can rest assured that you are going to have to share with them- clothes, make-up, jewelry, food, rooms, etc. While this can be a pro, you can borrow their things without having to spend your own money on it, most of the time, they’ll claim that you aren’t able to use their things, but they still have claim to yours. On the off chance they let you borrow an outfit, it often looks like hand-me-downs, when your older sibling has been wearing it.
Pro
As cheesy as it may sound, having sisters means that you have life-long best friends. Regardless of the fights you will no-doubt have, nothing can come between you long-term. At the end of the day, you are family and you’re stuck with each other for the long haul. When you grow up in a large and connected family, your sisters are the refuges that help you keep your head above water. Over the course of life, you and your sisters will go through phases of talking every day and only exchanging texts every few weeks. But, when you hit the low points in life, the first people you will want to talk to will always be your sisters. When you hit the peaks in life, your sisters’ contacts will be the ones you find first. You’ll stay up until 3 a.m. on FaceTime with your sister to plan her future, theoretical wedding. You’ll push off homework assignments to talk your sister through a fight she had with a roommate or boyfriend. And when they deal with a true tragedy- a loss of some sort- you will drop everything on your agenda and go to them immediately. Just being together is enough. The bond between sisters is deeper than blood, it is stronger than societal standards, it is everlasting and impossible to break.