Why Do We Consider "Daddy Issues" A Woman's Problem?
Labels Are Useless
Many people are under the impression that women with “daddy issues” are promiscuous & troubled. There’s also a connotation of neediness.
What we fail to realise is that the implications of this label run far deeper. It makes no sense that people could give them that title with such certainty, without even knowing the particular relationship or loss at stake.
Society loves to put people into boxes, but this is one of the many that we shouldn’t get used to.
You Are Loveable
Labelling anyone with the ‘daddy issues’ title is a misconception in itself, as it’s the distant father or lack thereof which is the source of it rather than the person themselves.
Many people detail fragmented relationships with their dads & feel unloveable because of it. This is an issue, but not a “daddy issue”. There are studies which prove a correlation between father-daughter/son relationships & romantic ones.
This phrase has been used in such a way that we ignore the legitimate trauma that complicated paternal relationships can cause. Instead, we’ve turned it into some strange kink.
No child should have to beg their parent for a relationship.
Trauma Effects Everyone
Toxic masculinity & poor parenting can traumatise men too. Many men in the world suffer the consequences of complex paternal relationships & it can affect them for most of their lives.
However, it’s important to realise that these men do not tend to get the same reputation as their other female counterparts.
No one has labelled a woman with ”daddy issues” in a way that ignites empathy & understanding. It perpetuates the idea that a woman deserves to be mistreated because her father left behind a horrible precedent.
We All Long To Be Protected
Saying someone has “daddy issues” is just a humiliating way of alluding to a very personal longing. A longing for someone to take care & protect them.
A woman who tries to keep her partner at all costs & tolerates abuse is not a sign of daddy issues, but a consequence of abandonment. That longing could naturally result in some tricky behaviour. Many people might secretly yearn for that gap to be filled or replaced.
Let’s have some extra compassion for those who aren’t lucky enough to celebrate their dads. For all of those who are still grieving.