DAD & DAUGHTER

A king and his princess

“To a father growing old nothing is dearer than a daughter.” Euripides

No matter how good or bad the relation is, the bond that ties a girl to her father shapes her self-esteem, self-image, confidence and opinion of men.

How daughter sees her father
“Any fool can be a Father, but it takes a real man to be a Daddy.” P.Whitmore

More than anything else, a daughter needs her father’s unconditional love. He's the most important figure in her life the one who gives her power and provides protection.

Usually, in most daughter’s eyes, dad is the strongest, the most clever and the most handsome of all.
She is completely charmed and sees him as representing what all men should be like.

She would do anything to gain his approval and retain his love and desperately try not to disappoint him.
Even a minor reproach from him can have a profound effect on her.

What does a daughter expect from her father

He is the pillar upon which she bases her life criteria. She will always look at him as her hero.

He is the ultimate shield and shelter.
He is her source of power and protection.

She will expect to dance, drive, play and challenge the whole world with her father at her side.

She will expect him to treat her mother with respect and honor. She will set the way her dad treats her family as an example.

A father's influence on a daughter's self-image

The most crucial component in a daughter’s self-esteem development will always remain her dad’s opinion.

How a father treats his daughter will shape how she views herself and how she expects to be treated by others for the rest of her life.

She will always look through his eyes in order to establish a global vision of life. It is his words of encouragement which will push her to discover her limits and abilities and diminish her insecurity.

The way he believes in her is the first step for a daughter to believe in herself and to increase her self-confidence while the image she draws of herself is directly linked to the way he sees and upraise her.

A daughter will spend all her life trying to keep up with the ideal image her father has for her. One of her first challenges is to make him proud of her and to meet his expectations.

“The reason why daughters love their dad the most is that there is at least one man in the world
who will never hurt her.”

HOW DADS INFLUENCE THEIR DAUGHTER'S RELATIONSHIPS
“A daughter may outgrow your lap, but she will never outgrow your heart.”

A dad is the standard against which a daughter will judge all men. She might choose her father’s closest replica or will purposely vote for the complete opposite!

A dad will always be and remain his daughter first and last love. The father & daughter relationship will directly impact a woman’s marriage in either negative or positive ways.

The type of man a girl marries is usually directly related to the kind of relationship, she has with her father.

A girl who has been fathered well has better chances to succeed in her long-lasting relationships with a man while women with poor father-daughter relationships are more likely to have difficulty trusting and communicating with men.

Dr Linda Nielsen, psychology professor at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, and author of Between Fathers and Daughters, says: “If you have a good relationship with your dad, then you’re not desperate for male approval: you’ve already got it. If you’re used to being well-treated by your father, and you don’t have to be perfect for him to love you, that’s what you’ll expect from other men.”

The reverse of the medal: FATHER-ABSENCE
The absence of the father can create a wound that has the potential to damage a daughter self-worth and cripple her future relationships with men.
She should give up the idea that that her spouse will replace her dad.
It's not about replacing him; it's about finding the right man for her.

THE FATAL SEPARATION
A daughter’s life is instantly changed the minute she loses her father. The whole world is painted with dark colors. She has lost her pillar, her protection and her reference.

Nothing is the same anymore. Losing a father is the greatest wound that never ever heals. A daughter will just learn how to live with this perpetual grief, intense pain, loneliness, and emptiness while she reaches a turning point in her life.
This turning point will define her identity from there on.

She will desperately try to continue whatever he has started and to live by the same principals he taught her. She will do her best to carry out his legacy, trying to extend perpetually his memory.