What does the birth prediction ritul reveal about the family?

Desdemona takes a silver spoon out of the box, ties a string to it, and dangles the spoon over Tessie's pregnant belly. Until now, Desdemona has gotten twenty-three out of twenty-three guesses correct, and, after a little hesitation, she declares that the child will be a boy. Tessie's husband, Milton Stephanides, disagrees with Desdemona, insisting that scientifically, it must be a girl. This shows the family to be both superstitious and preoccupied with the gender of the baby. They place certain values on the baby depending on its gender.