From Los Angeles Times:

Xie Lihua‘s parents wanted a boy. But on the day Xie was born in a poor village in rural Shandong province, her mother learned she had given birth to a second daughter.

She wept in anger. And she slapped her new baby.

“Another girl!” she cried.

The year was 1951. Girls were considered a worthless commodity in an agrarian society that relied upon the strength of young men to flourish. Xie grew up knowing her place — as a handmaiden to her younger brother.

“My sister and I knew that all the good food went to him — when he was done, then we could eat,” she recalled. [Full Text]