Why is there a stereotype of fathers being overprotective of their daughters?

[darklordoftech]

I see why parents would be more protective of their daughters than of their sons, but why would fathers be more protective of their daughters than mothers?

[WindowPhil]

My hypothesis:

Mom wants freedom for her daughter because her father was overprotective.

Dad projects what he knows about guys because either he or male peers he knows didn't treat women very well when he was growing up and her age.

[Pedocon Theory is not a theory]

I see why parents would be more protective of their daughters than of their sons, but why would fathers be more protective of their daughters than mothers?

Classic Electra complex. Read between the lines; they're doing the horizontal father-daughter conga.

[dead0man]

there are several reasons that this is true...
1.sons can't get pregnant
2.sons don't get emotional support if their hearts get broken, daughters do and the last thing any father wants to do is give emotional support to one of their children
3.mothers secretly hate their daughters
4.there is no book on fatherhood <what?, there are literally thousands> fathers don't like to read self help books, so a lot of fathers do what they think society expects them to do, one of those things is be over protective of their daughters

[Ferguson97]

It's a relic of the idea that women are the property of men

[Mr. Smith]

Opposite gendered children tend to get a lot of affection and protection from their parents.

Daddy's Girls and Momma's Boys are tropes for a reason.

[Crumpets]

Along with what everyone else has said, you can flip the question around and ask why isn't there a stereotype of fathers being overprotective of their sons, and the reason is pretty simple - men are expected to be tough, and fathers would typically want their sons to fend for themselves, even at a young age. Women, and especially girls, are not, and dads will typically try to guard their daughter from threats that either their sons wouldn't have to face (i.e. sexual harassment from adults) or that they would just expect their son to be able to face on their own (i.e. getting in a fight with a school bully).

The same dynamic applies to mothers, but I think the unique father-son dynamic that's the result of thousands of years of the man being the head of the household will make that the relationship that's really different from the others, and the father-daughter relationship just looks more different by comparison. I know my mom was extremely protective of me, but I also think that if someone was trying to analyze why, they'd give a generational "he grew up in a city as a millennial, so of course his parents were overly protective" explanation.

[John Dule]

It's a relic of the idea that women are the property of men

I hope (against hope) that you someday start a family and look back on comments like these with the derision they deserve.

[courts]

I see why parents would be more protective of their daughters than of their sons, but why would fathers be more protective of their daughters than mothers?

the stock line was 'i know how boys are' for years. not flattering

[Ferguson97]

It's a relic of the idea that women are the property of men

I hope (against hope) that you someday start a family and look back on comments like these with the derision they deserve.

I know you aren't arguing that women are the property of men, so I'm going to assume you are justifying the larger point of "being overprotective of daughters compared to sons", so I'll invite you to defend that position.

[WindowPhil]

Along with what everyone else has said, you can flip the question around and ask why isn't there a stereotype of fathers being overprotective of their sons, and the reason is pretty simple - men are expected to be tough, and fathers would typically want their sons to fend for themselves, even at a young age. Women, and especially girls, are not, and dads will typically try to guard their daughter from threats that either their sons wouldn't have to face (i.e. sexual harassment from adults) or that they would just expect their son to be able to face on their own (i.e. getting in a fight with a school bully).

The same dynamic applies to mothers, but I think the unique father-son dynamic that's the result of thousands of years of the man being the head of the household will make that the relationship that's really different from the others, and the father-daughter relationship just looks more different by comparison. I know my mom was extremely protective of me, but I also think that if someone was trying to analyze why, they'd give a generational "he grew up in a city as a millennial, so of course his parents were overly protective" explanation.

I know there's often businesses called ______ and sons.

That makes me wonder if fathers tend to be more strict about son's life choices and their "son being in line" (Jobs, Religion, Political affiliation etc) than they are with daughters.

[John Dule]

It's a relic of the idea that women are the property of men

I hope (against hope) that you someday start a family and look back on comments like these with the derision they deserve.

I know you aren't arguing that women are the property of men, so I'm going to assume you are justifying the larger point of "being overprotective of daughters compared to sons", so I'll invite you to defend that position.

Can you conceive of a logical reason why a parent might feel more protective of a daughter than a son, or has your brain spent so much time marinating in the internet that you are not even capable of acknowledging the basic differences in the male and female experiences?

[Ferguson97]

It's a relic of the idea that women are the property of men

I hope (against hope) that you someday start a family and look back on comments like these with the derision they deserve.

I know you aren't arguing that women are the property of men, so I'm going to assume you are justifying the larger point of "being overprotective of daughters compared to sons", so I'll invite you to defend that position.

Can you conceive of a logical reason why a parent might feel more protective of a daughter than a son, or has your brain spent so much time marinating in the internet that you are not even capable of acknowledging the basic differences in the male and female experiences?

Perhaps we've interpreted the question differently, my understanding was the "shotgun dad" type who 'jokingly' threatens to kill his daughter's teenage boyfriends if they ever hurt her. Taking basic precautions like giving my daughter pepper spray or teaching self-defense, would not qualify as overprotection in my opinion, but as basic protective measures. Overprotection would, necessarily, mean taking unnecessary precautions.

[DINGO Joe]

[John Dule]

It's a relic of the idea that women are the property of men

I hope (against hope) that you someday start a family and look back on comments like these with the derision they deserve.

I know you aren't arguing that women are the property of men, so I'm going to assume you are justifying the larger point of "being overprotective of daughters compared to sons", so I'll invite you to defend that position.

Can you conceive of a logical reason why a parent might feel more protective of a daughter than a son, or has your brain spent so much time marinating in the internet that you are not even capable of acknowledging the basic differences in the male and female experiences?

Perhaps we've interpreted the question differently, my understanding was the "shotgun dad" type who 'jokingly' threatens to kill his daughter's teenage boyfriends if they ever hurt her. Taking basic precautions like giving my daughter pepper spray or teaching self-defense, would not qualify as overprotection in my opinion, but as basic protective measures. Overprotection would, necessarily, mean taking unnecessary precautions.

That stuff just strikes me as cringeworthy dad humor, and not something to be taken seriously. Obviously it's rooted in some very real fears that a parent has for their child, but I don't think it's particularly harmful.

If you want to talk about disturbing parenting practices, then chastity balls should be #1 on your list.

[Rosethecommie]

Misogyny, because women are seen as objects to be owned by men

[dead0man]

I'm still waiting to meet one of these men than think that women are objects to be owned.  Where are you people finding them?  Is it a coast thing?

[RI]

As a father to two daughters, it's a combination of A) girls tending to be much closer emotionally to their fathers than their mothers starting at a young age, B) girls tending to be less physically strong than boys and thus less naturally capable of unassisted self-defense, and C) that there exists a certain small but aggressive subset of men who have zero boundaries who act in completely inappropriate ways in order to get what they want from girls starting at a young age, much more so than from boys. Fathers become conditioned to protecting their daughters early on, and it can be very difficult for some to let that go as their daughters mature into more capable adults.

[Badger]

Building on what Doctor RI said, the saying I've heard is when you have a son there's only one penis you need to worry about. When you have a daughter, you have to worry about every single penis in the world.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Well when you have weirdos in the world like Badger, one needs to be highly protective. 

[Santander]

Mothers are... well, women, so their parenting will follow their lived experiences. Fathers (i.e. men) have not lived as women, so they default to overprotection. No need to read too much into this, it's very simple logic.