Lies Little Girls Believe

One of my childhood friends and I had a big falling out a few years ago after over 10 years of friendship. I saw a photo of his daughter for the first time today. She’s gorgeous, looks just like him. I told another friend of mine “I hope having a daughter helps him treat women better” No sooner than I sent that text, I realized just how far fetched that thought was. Changed Dad

  • Having a daughter didn’t stop Buddha from throwing a knife at his fiancé with me in the next room, when I was 10 years old.
  • Having daughters didn’t stop Step Dad #1 from having unprotected sex with another woman while in what was thought to be a committed relationship with my mother.
  • Having a daughter didn’t prevent my Sister’s Father’s insecurities from showing up. Causing him to behave aggressively & what some may call violently toward those he felt threatened his “happy family”.
  • Having a daughter didn’t stop my cousin from stepping outside his 11 year relationship for the umpteenth time producing his second child outside of said relationship.
  • Having a daughter didn’t stop my god-daughter’s father from physically abusing her mother and causing property damage in an attempt to make her lose her first apartment and her job simultaneously.

We have these myths circulating in our communities that a father’s bad karma comes back on his daughter, & that having a little girl changes the way men see and interact with women. Little girls grow up to believe that they possess some type of magic that makes their daddies into better men. Except when those daddies don’t become better men, those little girls feel like their magic is broken. We believe that our existence was supposed to show them that all women aren’t so bad, and in fact maybe they have been seeing women all wrong all along. We believe that our Daddies are supposed to look at us and say “I can’t believe I’ve been doing to other people’s daughter’s what I would never want done to this little magical being here” OR. “Man, I messed up; I have to protect her so no one ever does to her what I’ve done to other women.”

Father-Daughter-laughter

WHO STARTED THESE RUMORS? Because, they’re putting too much responsibility on infants, to change men who should have learned to respect women long before being blessed with the chance to create one. Dad Daughter feet

This Post Has 16 Comments

  1. Erika

    This is SO true! I always tell people that each man and woman, boy and girl, is someone’s mother, father, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, cousin or grandparent. It is imperative that we start treating each other the way we want our family members to be handled. Although this is an ideal way of thinking, some of us are consumed with our own selfish wants. (Notice I said wants, not needs). This ignorance starts a vicious cycle that sometimes doesn’t stop until many generations down the line. I employ all of us to acknowledge the signs and be the one who stops this downward spiral and rejuvenate the strong family unit we once had.

  2. Ashley

    Yessssssssss! Good observation! It made me think of that time when I thought that I could change my father’s bad habits with a bat of an eye, wish him home in my prayers and calm his fears with a soft sweet voice saying , “I Love You Daddy.” It wasn’t until I got older that I realized it wasn’t enough to change the heart of a man that was broken long before I arrived. Only then could I forgive the man I never truly knew.

  3. Tamara

    Great read! My personal belief is that those myths surfaced because they are logical and make sense. However, common sense isn’t so common.

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