Girls’ Need Their Dad’s Perspective about Sexuality, Love and Relationships
Children need to hear about sex, love, and relationships from parents and if you are a guy parenting a girl, this means double duty for you!
For a bunch of reasons the sexuality talks usually fall to mom, especially with girls. Daughters need to hear from their dads about this part of life and there is some good research that shows the positive impact of their conversations with fathers.
This totally heterosexist study looks at father-daughter sex talks and offers some encouraging results! Some results apply to kids of any orientation.
When fathers took the time to consciously and openly talk with their girls about this part of life they said this helped them with:
- Understanding men and providing insights into their experiences
- Being more comfortable interacting with men
- Having more skills in managing men and their relationships with men
- How to deal with pressure to have sex
- The framing of how they should be treated in a relationship
- Role modeling openness and comfort with sexual communication
- Taking responsibility for their sexual decision-making and health
Dads don’t get a “pass” because they aren’t the same gender or have the same body as their daughters. When they talk to their girls all they need to do is address their differences (and any discomfort) and get on with the talks.
Especially if she is straight, dads bring a different perspective and girls really benefit from hearing the “guy” point of view about sex, consent, and relationships.
If you are the dad of a girl you are in a special position of power and can truly help her feel confident about herself in her romantic and sexual relationships.
Use your power for good.
