Dad’s TikTok video about the over-sexualization of young girls shows that we have to change something
Dad shares the moment he realized when the over-sexualization of girls starts in a viral TikTok video.
- TikTok user Michael Vaughn talks about the moment he realized girls are being over-sexualized at a young age.
- The father-of-one claims children’s clothing is responsible for the issue, saying: “It was 100% the clothes.”
- Vaugh advises other parents triggered by the problem with over-sexualization of children to do their “research.”
Raising children is definitely not an easy task. Parenting is amongst the most challenging things we go through in our lives. For men raising girls, things often get quite complicated. However, fatherhood undoubtedly has its moments of awakening when it comes to being a parent in today’s world.
As Upworthy reports, Michael Vaughn, father of a 14-month-old girl, shared one of his eye-opening realizations about the over-sexualization of women. According to the TikTok user, it starts the very same day they are born.
Answering the issue: “Tell me about the time you realized that oversexualization of women starts incredibly young,” the concerned father says:
“It was 100% the clothes. And I knew it was going to be bad, but I didn’t know how bad. And then we got a onesie for our daughter that says: ‘Sorry, boys, dad says no dating’ — sized for a newborn. I guess I’m wondering who they thought was going to date our zero-month-old daughter. But, all the girls’ clothes are remarkably annoying for so many reasons.”
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The dad believes that sexism towards girls starts with inappropriately designed clothing.
Vaughn asks:
“Why does everything have ruffles? Why is everything hyper-pink? Why is everything glittery?”
He then questions the size of children’s clothing, claiming that the girls’ clothes are intentionally made smaller than the boys’, even though they are the same size. The father continues:
“Like, I don’t get why boys get normal shorts and my daughter gets shorts with an inseam of -2. Like, we legit buy boy pants for our daughter because girl pants are sausage casing leggings. I’m not squeezing a baby back into sausage casing every single diaper change. So, it was 100% girl clothes. Girl clothes are the worst.”
In a follow-up video, the dad explains why he points out ruffles, hyper-pink colors, and glitter as a part of the problem.
In the second video, Vaugh gives context about what he actually meant by bringing up these details in girls’ clothing. He says:
“I brought that up for two reasons. First, it’s frustrating that it’s hard to find ruffle-free and glitter-free stuff in these colors[teal, tangerine, mint, plum, coral, aqua, mustard, sage]. Second, the Venn diagram of the pink, ruffly, glittery stuff, and stuff that has the problematic elements I was talking about related to fit or sayings – that Venn diagram is almost a circle.”
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The dad’s TikTok statement on sexism gained over 3.3M views.
When Buzzfeed reached out to Vaugh regarding his viral video, he explained:
“The cool thing is you’re the parent, which means you get to be involved in what they’re exposed to, how they’re exposed to it, and how they learn to process and challenge those influences. This also means you get to set an early standard about what matters, like their talents and interests. In other words: positive things that help define them that don’t involve their appearance.”
He also shares a message to all the fathers struggling to raise their daughters in today’s messed-up world:
“Please be humble and do some research. Grab your mask and go to the store. Actually look at the girls clothes and boys clothes to see what differences you find, especially between the same sizes. I recommend starting with the sayings on T-shirts, then comparing size 3T shorts for girls and boys. This research also includes asking the women in your life if they’d be willing to share their experiences being over-sexualized as children. Don’t push if they’re unwilling; many of those experiences are traumatic. If they’re willing to share, listen to their experiences and learn from them as well.”
Do you think children’s clothing could be partially responsible for the over-sexualization of young girls? Let us know in the comment section!
