As Pantera sang in, “Walk” … is there no standard anymore?
Well, truth be told yes but also no. This post is for all the dads out there with little girls or even teen girls. A bit of wisdom from a daughter who was reminded of standards on a rainy autumn night.
To the Dads I know who have little girls. You may not feel like her role model but how you treat your daughter will be how she expects all men to treat her. You set the standard. If you love and respect her, she’ll expect no less from the men she allows in her life. If you do things out love and kindness, again, she will expect it from the men in her life. You may not take her to the mall and bond over manicures and you might not even be the first person she runs to when her heart is broken but know you set the standard in her life.
She’ll unconsciously look at how you treat others, especially women. Do you show them kindness? Are you chivalrous and offer your seat to the little old lady that hobbles onto the crowded train? Do you hold open the door for the shy low esteem teen? Do you drop a few dollars into the tip jar of the waitress busting her butt so her kids can eat? Do you tell her she looks like a whore in the latest fashion craze? Do you expect a woman to serve your every need? Do you treat your dog better than the women in your life?
Think about your actions around your little girl(s). If your locker room talk about someone’s daughter doesn’t make you cringe, then why does someone referring to your daughter as a hot piece of ass make you cringe. Saying because she’s my daughter doesn’t work because the comment you might have made or agreed about some other woman is also someone’s daughter. You can’t have double standards in regards to women just because you have a daughter. Trust me, if you do, your daughter will take notice. She might not call you out on it but you will set in her mind that women are not equal.
To the dads I know out there, know this, you DO make a difference and set a standard. We might not always remember the standard you set and we will often lower our standards because we think the guy in our life is the cream of the crop. Yet, we will be reminded by a simple towel set out by the door on a rainy night that what we want is someone who treats us with the love, respect, and kindness that our father has/had always shown us.