Boyfriend Gets His Dreads Cut Off By Father Who Needs Some Anger Management Classes”
A father in Pittsburgh is facing charges of aggravated assault and terroristic threats in connection with in incident last week. He caught his daughter “sneaking around” with a 19-year old man and decided to chop off his dreadlocks and threaten to shoot him. Seems reasonable, right? Wrong. This whole “dads gone wild” over their daughters having a boyfriend shtick is ridiculous and seeing these stories in the news makes me roll my eyes. Hard. It’s one thing if his daughter was under attack but by all accounts, it would seem his rage is caused solely by his anger that they were being sneaky about their relationship. To which I say, why would she be sneaky with her boyfriend when her dad seems so “rational?” Exactly.
From People:
Reginald Hardy of West Reading apologized for his actions, saying that he “literally” saw red when he caught the two teens sneaking around on Friday night.
“That might have been the maddest I ever got,” the 38-year-old father told WFMZ.
According to court documents, Hardy punched the 19-year-old boy in the face, then dragged him to the kitchen where he cut his dreadlocks off. Police say the father also threatened to shoot the boy in the back, according to the Associated Press.
“We got into a little scuffle,” Hardy told WFMZ. “I’m a father and I’m looking out for my daughter. That’s it.”
Before we get into this ridiculousness, I must first note that a Fox News article states his daughter is 17. If this girl were 13, I can almost understand this father’s “seeing red” and losing control because that would be pretty upsetting. However, the age of consent in Pennsylvania is 16 so whether the father likes it or not, his daughter having a physical relationship with a 19-year old is acceptable from a legal standpoint.
Ok, moving on. I am so incredibly tired of this trope of the mad dad defending his daughter’s “honor.” I understand the urge, I really do. However, I don’t know how much it helps our girls with being confident and feeling like they can handle their own business when Daddy steps in and rages on their behalf. The dads wearing the ridiculous t-shirts with “rules to date my daughter” splashed across the back comes to mind. Why are these dads so invested in their daughters love lives, to the point of physical violence?
I talk to my husband a lot about this topic as we have a 7-year old daughter and his main point is that he plans to be a huge presence in her life- to take her fishing, camping, to shoot hoops, etc. He says if he shows her how a good man should act and helps her have confidence, she will hopefully chose a partner who will respect her. I agree. I just hate this idea that girls need defending in this manner and also, that they are blameless in this sort of occurrence. How does this dad know that his daughter didn’t initiate hanging out with this guy? Why does he turn all of his ire toward him?
Obviously, this man has serious anger issues and this is likely not the reaction a typical father would have to his teen daughter “sneaking around” but this is not the first time I have seen a story like this make national news and I’m sure it won’t be the last. How about these fathers focus more on helping their daughters have solid judgment and cultivating good relationships so they won’t feel the need to “sneak” behind their father’s backs to see a boy? Clearly, this girl was covert for a reason and I’m thinking it’s because she knows her father has no control over his temper. I guess at the end of the day, being a violent lunatic is a lot easier than being a good parent.
(Image: via Fox News)
