A dad walking around a store wearing super shorts shorts clearly wanted to be noticed. And he was. He had a note on the back of his jacket reading "Ask my girls if they still think short shorts are sooo cute!" and his young daughter in tow.
The image was captioned "Father of the Year" and it was posted on Imgur. As much as we can all appreciate a dad taking interest in his kid, I feel like this guy is going about this in all the wrong ways.
Two things here: One, stop slut-shaming your daughter. The length of her shorts says nothing about her character, but by pointing it out, you're inadvertently sexualizing your young daughter. Do not teach her to feel guilty about her clothing options. She will have to confront that enough as she gets older from the outside world. If you have a problem with short shorts, why don't you take the time to explain it without making a mockery of them, their style, and their preferences? Short shorts can be cute and they can be comfortable. Also, take a look at the shorts being sold to girls these days. Good luck if you can find anything that even hits mid-thigh. And how did your girls get the shorts in the first place? So many questions.
Second: For the love of all that is holy, can we please fast-forward through this disgusting parenting trend of publicly shaming your children as some warped form of punishment? You're not teaching them that the action or behavior is wrong. You're teaching them to be embarrassed. You're teaching them that bullying is okay — because make no mistake about it, public humiliation is bullying. You're teaching them that they can't trust you with vulnerable things because they have no idea what you might do with that information.
When people see these sorts of things posted online, very few champion the parents. Most get secondhand embarrassment for the kids and honestly don't think too highly of the parents and their punishment "technique." Sure, it might get a few laughs, but is that worth it at the expense of your kid and their feelings? What lesson as a parent are you even trying to get across with this? The fact that you are bigger than your kid and can do whatever you want? Cool story, bro. Explain to me again how it will make your child less likely to do something you disapprove of?
More from The Stir: 17-Year-Old Joy-Anna Duggar's Workout Clothes Break The Internet
Listen, parenting is hard stuff, no question there. And today's parents are dealing with a whole host of new challenges that generations beforehand didn't. I understand that some folks are at the ends of their ropes and reaching at anything to try to discipline their kids. But this type of parenting in public goes beyond that. This takes your parenting and puts it on display for everyone else to comment on. All it's showing is that you'd rather make a spectacle than take the time to actually figure out the issue and tackle it with your kid without putting it on YouTube or walking around with a message on your jacket.
There's a lesson to be learned here, for sure, but I don't think it has anything to do with short shorts.
