Daddy and daughter date nights?

[ILikeMyChickenFried]

How long has this been a thing? An advert for a local Daddy daughter date night has just popped up on my Facebook. Seems a bit bizarre.

Grim

Yeah it's a thing. A grim as fuck thing.

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

I'd question the use of the word date but nice idea to have some quality one to one time.

How weird

The mother and son date night is weird too.

the odd part is adding "date" in there, why? it makes spending some quality time sound a bit sinister

Completely weird American nonsense.

It's an American thing which I wasn't aware has made its way over here.

It has its roots in conservative Christian culture, the idea that a father must show his daughter how a man ought to treat her, so when she stops guarding her 'purity' and marries, she chooses a husband who will slot into those fixed gender roles with her (paying for everything, getting her coat, pulling a chair out for her and so forth).

In itself, it's not a bad idea, if it were purely phrased as a parent spending one on one time with their child, regardless of gender. But calling it a 'date' and insisting it is 'daddy daughter' not 'daddy son' or 'mummy son' betrays exactly what it's about: approximating the dating relationship a father in that culture wants for his daughter when she grows up. As she cannot be allowed to make her own choices.

See also: "lists of rules if you want to date my daughter" (never 'my son').

It's icky.

mock the idea that a man can spend time with his daughter,

No, we're mocking the idea of men going ON DATES with their daughters.

I think its beyond creepy and sexist. Take your kids out one to one for dinner is lovely. Specifically taking a daughter out alone is creepy. Theres not a daddy son date night. Why? I bet men would take there sons somewhere else meaning its a weird way of teaching their daughters the way they expect they should.let men trat them.

Homebrew why use the word date? That's the weird bit that deserves a good mocking.

I have dinner dates with ds. It's a standing weekly date where we have dinner out together. Not sure if this is better/ worse/ the same, but actually don't care much what others think either.

Trust you lot to mock the idea that a man can spend time with his daughter, it’s all a bit sad really.

With all due respect, that doesn't seem to be what people are "mocking", rather the term "date" which makes it sound creepy

The date part makes it sound creepy in my opinion.

But then again the expression "quality time" makes my skin crawl!

No one is mocking the idea of a parent spending time with their child, just the unnecessary use of the word ‘date’.

The idea that fathers need to be on some pseudo romantic date with their daughters, rather than just spending time with them like an actual parent, turns my stomach somewhat.

I used to go for dinner with my Dad, always a treat to spend time together as I have a handful of siblings. Neither of us would have branded it a date. That's grim.

I also don't "date" my husband.

Why can't people not just spend time with their kids? Why does it have to be'quality' time or 'date' night. Complete nonsense!

I think its this anerican trend of adding Dates to everything.

When i was a kid it wasn't playdates it was goimg round to play or even dinner/tea

I spent a lot of time with my dad and step dad having quality time, it wasnt a date it was purely spending time together

People who don't understand the wider implications of this and can only view it as a 'what's wrong with spending time with your child?' probably don't have a lot of awareness of other cultures and the religious contexts a lot of these things originate from.

It's like purity balls. Where a father takes his young daughter, in a white dress, so she can pledge to stay a virgin until marriage. Because her sexuality and body aren't her own. They belong to her father.

If you don't know about this stuff you're likely to spout 'gosh, trust you lot to have an issue with a father and daughter going out dancing!'. It's ignorance, in the true sense of the word. There's plenty of info out there you can google to educate yourself on something you don't understand, Dave!

If it makes any difference I'll be having dinner dates with dd too when she's old enough. Date is merely a marker in the diary for me - same time every week.

Yes, just to be clear, it's lovely for a daughter to have one on on time with her dad. It's just the phrasing which didn't seem right.

Does anyone remember the poster who came on for opinions in starting a business in this? She was going to book a motorway hotel (for easy access for dads) and arrange a dinner-dance kind of evening for dads and daughters

I don't need to tell you the responses she got but she was completely serious.