ST. CATHARINES, ON. – In a tradition dating back centuries, a local family’s youngest daughter, Dana Black, has been gifted her first training bra, a moment which is immediately followed by the ceremonial distancing of her father.
“This is how our family has always done it,” sighed Dana as she recited her rehearsed explanation of the days’ events. ”Now is a very special time for all daughters when our bodies develop womanly features and our fathers pull away both physically and emotionally.”
“This phenomenon manifests itself in different ways around the world but what is central to this upset is that men feel weird when their daughters get boobs,” said Dr. Natasha Hedberg, head of the Family Psychology unit at the Canadian Institute for Better Minds. “Our culture has adopted a ceremonial approach, exhibited, for example in the common the drawing of a circle around how far the father must stand away from his teenage daughter. And of course, the “Last Hug”. This may seem harsh, however, at least the girls are not left in a fog of confusion, wondering why their father doesn’t want hang out anymore.”
We asked Black’s father, Doug, if he thought this “distancing” could be avoided by simply focusing on developing a different relationship to his daughter as a teenager and young adult. He responded, “Absolutely! I love my daughter and would… Oh excuse me I think I hear the dog outside, better check that out. Take care now! Bye!”
