“When a child grows up without a father, there is an empty place where someone must stand,
Providing an example of character and confidence.”
~ Steve Largent
Fathers generally have as much or more influence than mothers on many aspects of their daughters’ lives. Fathers have a greater impact on their daughter’s long-term (romantic) male relationships because of their ability to trust, enjoy, and relate well to the males in their life. Girls with involved, fathers are more likely to have healthier relationships with the opposite sex because they learn from their fathers how proper men act toward women. They also have a healthy familiarity with the world of men; they don 't wonder how a man 's facial stubble feels or what it 's like to be hugged by strong arms. This knowledge builds emotional security and safety from the exploitation of predatory males. Well-fathered daughters are also more aware of their sexuality, body image, social skills, and their academic goals because they are usually more self-confident, more self-reliant, and more successful in school and in their careers than poorly fathered daughters.
A Father’s Influence and Involvement is imperative for adolescent girls. In a study taken eight years ago; only thirty percent of fathers believed that active involvement in their daughter’s life was vital to their health and well being (Roper Poll, 2004). On the other hand, the same study showed that nearly eighty percent of college-aged girls wished the relationship they had with their father was emotionally and personally closer, so they could more closely and comfortably communicate about such personal issues as marital problems and divorce, drug and alcohol use, financial matters, depression, eating disorders, and sex before marriage. When girls are exposed to a stressful environment, especially when it is due to a father’s absence in the first 7 years of her life, they tend to have an early onset to puberty, advanced
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