Fathers matter now more than ever

“Fathers set a huge role model for their daughters regarding the qualities she looks for in men and the standards she maintains.  He is the first man in her life and models how a man should treat a woman, how a man should act, and how a man shows healthy love and affection to a woman.  He also sets the standard for how a daughter feels she deserves to be treated by men.  He even determines how a girl feels about herself.Fathers who are active, loving, positive role models in their daughter’s lives provide them with the opportunity to use those character traits as a measuring tape for future men in their lives.  The way in which a man treats his wife speaks volumes to a girl on how she should expect to be treated and valued by men later in her life.  If her father shows that he values her mother as someone worthy of love and respect, a girl will expect that for herself from her husband.  If he exhibits a model of abuse or disrespect for her mother, a girl may feel that she deserves to be treated that way as a wife as well.And if her father shows his daughter love, respect, and appreciation for who she is, she will believe that about herself as a woman, no matter what anyone else thinks.A little girl who has her father’s love knows what it’s like to be unconditionally and completely adored by a man.  She knows the feeling of safety that love creates.1Conversely, men who abandon or abuse their daughters set them up for a lifetime of pain, distrust, and feelings of worthlessness.  When men are angry or disrespectful to the females in their families, it sets their daughters up to expect this kind of treatment from all men.  If a man does not provide and protect them, they have no expectations of this behavior from the men they enter into relationships with.  Why would a woman willingly marry a man who can’t or won’t hold a job to support his family?  Why would she intentional marry a man who abuses or abandons her?  Probably, she wouldn’t.  Perhaps that was the type of man that was modeled for her growing up and she is subconsciously attracted to that model, believing she deserves that kind of treatment and is unworthy of anything better.