Is it ever okay to admit you’ve got a favourite child?
Comedian Katherine Ryan sparked public debate after openly admitting she has a favorite child. The article explores the social taboo surrounding parental favoritism and whether such feelings are more common than society acknowledges.
Why it matters
It challenges deeply ingrained societal norms regarding parenting and the pressure to maintain a facade of equal affection toward all children.
THERE ARE FEW taboos left in the world of parenting these days. The stigma that was once attached to discussing subjects like perinatal depression, gender disappointment, not bonding with your newborn from the off, miscarriage and IVF is all but gone, thankfully.
Openly admitting you have a favourite child, however, remains very much a taboo subject and is not something parents are ever supposed to say out loud. That is, of course, unless you’re Katherine Ryan.
The outspoken comedian recently dared to say the quiet part out loud, admitting that she does indeed have a favourite child. “I can say it. Violet’s my favourite. She’s the firstborn daughter,” Ryan told Davina McCall’s Begin Again podcast.
Ryan, who raised 17-year-old Violet largely by herself after separating from her father, also has three other children: Fred (3), Fenna (2) and Holland (9 months) with husband Bobby Kootstra.
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