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NEED TO KNOW
- A Reddit user said that he was called a bad parent for letting his teenage daughter dress in gothic attire at school
- After a woman insulted his parenting, the father said he is worried his daughter will be bullied for how she dresses
- “I love her and want her to be the happiest she can be … I ended up telling [the woman] to f— off,” the dad added
A father has been insulted for letting his teenage daughter wear whatever she wants.
The man explained on Reddit’s “Am I the A——?” forum that he was called a “terrible parent” for allowing his 15-year-old daughter to wear what she wants, which is mostly black attire, at school.
“She dresses in a gothic style,” the dad explained. “My wife and I have always encouraged her to be herself — and I’m pretty sure 95% of her wardrobe is black at this point — but she seems to enjoy it, so I’ve never really cared about what she wears.”
He said that he lets her daughter wear whatever she wants “as long as it’s appropriate” and makes her happy.
While dropping his daughter off at school one day, the dad said that a woman approached him and called him a bad parent over his daughter’s outfit choices.
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“She called me out for being a terrible parent for letting her ‘dress like that’ and that I’m just asking for her to be bullied,” he said, explaining that the alarming encounter enraged him so much he told the woman “to f— off.”
“My daughter was surprised as we almost never argue and I very rarely shout or swear in front of her,” the dad recalled. He then shared his concerns over his daughter following the comments, after being “bullied in the past.”
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The readers in the comment section supported the dad in letting his daughter have freedom over her appearance.
“Good on you for allowing your daughter to express herself freely and allowing her to be who she wants to be,” one person wrote. “Never let ANYONE tell you you’re a bad parent for refusing to put shackles on your kid.”
“You’re doing the right thing, and good for you for showing your daughter that you’re ALWAYS on her side,” a second said. “It’s just clothing and if it makes her happy, there’s nothing wrong with it,” someone else wrote.
“You did good and set a good example to your kid,” another added.
The father responded that while his daughter is “still my responsibility,” when it comes to her hair and clothes, “that’s her identity, and I want her to be happy being herself.”