Parenting

Sugar, Spice and All Things Nice

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Written by Tim Barnes-Clay

From body shaming to gender stereotypes, no-one said raising a daughter in today’s society was going to be easy. Are you up for the challenge?

Although we don’t always like to admit it, boys are simple. Throw in a little wanton destruction, sport, dirt or robots, and you instantly start building a connection. Girls, on the other hand, can seem like a totally different species at first. For starters, you can’t really rely on shared experiences and interests in the same way – your daughter might not want to play soldiers, watch football or climb the nearest tree; and you may not instinctively know which bow looks prettier.

However, it doesn’t take long to realise that adaptability is an essential parenting skill and all those fears you had about finding common ground were just a waste of worry. That said, our little ones don’t stay little forever. Becoming a dab-hand at hosting pretend tea parties, picking out dresses and making bracelets out of beads is a far cry from what comes next; guiding your little girl through her teenage years and into womanhood.

With recent studies finding that ‘a father directly influences his daughter’s thoughts, feelings, emotions, dreams, and ambitions’, the importance of building a healthy and lasting relationship cannot be underestimated.

So, in a modern society still dominated by inequality and obsession with image, how can dads make their daughters feel confident, loved and perhaps most crucially, empowered?

Read the full article here.