My question isn't really about gender disappointment, as in you have 3 girls and are hoping for a boy.

I've noticed a general preference for boys. I start typing "how to have" into Google and all of the boy searches pop up.

Why are boys more desirable? This seems to cross cultural lines also. You *need a male child to continue on the family name- is that part of it? I know China used to have a one child policy and girls were often aborted or ended up in orphanages.

Can anyone explain this? Is this deeply ingrained sexism? Is it like unconscious bias that males are preferred? What can be done to improve this?