All over the internet, creators have been sharing their grievances about how being the oldest daughter is the biggest scam of all, criticizing the invisible labor you undertake when you are not only the first-born, but also a woman. One TikTok shows a creator with a weary expression on her face and the caption: “POV: you’re the eldest daughter and you just mediated an argument between your sister, your mom, and your dad.” In another video, a creator says: “So we’ve already accepted that oldest daughters are the unappreciated backbone of the family?” Others talk about sacrifices made along the way, such as acting as second parents to their siblings, lamenting how they “[were] literally the trial run for [their] parents” or commenting “we should start a support group.” The hashtag #EldestDaughterSyndrome — where TikTok users unpack supposedly common personality traits that affect first-born daughters, such as perfectionism, people-pleasing, guilt complexes, control issues, and jealousy — has amassed 7.8 million views.
