Jeffrey Warren Welch, a poet and writer in Jonesborough, Tennessee, posted on his Facebook page on Sunday about empowering his daughters to make up their own dating rules, instead of being a stereotypical overprotective father figure, The Huffington Post reported.
The father has three daughters: a 7-year-old, a 12-year-old and a 16-year-old. His wife Natasha has two daughters from a previous marriage: a 12-year-old and a 16-year-old.
Regarding how he wants those who seek to date his daughters to comport themselves, the dad stated: "You'll have to ask them what their rules are."
"I'm not raising my little girls to be the kind of women who need their daddy to act like a creepy possessive badass in order for them to be treated with respect," he posted, adding, "You will respect them, and if you don't, I promise they won't need my help putting you back in your place."
Welch suggested that he was inspired to create his post after reading other posts on social media idolizing and glorifying overprotective and overbearing fathers who threaten their daughter's romantic interests.
"I definitely know what a more misogynistic parenting style looks like when I see it, and I react against that, to be certain, but I'm also learning more and more every day about the true meaning of male privilege, and the subconscious ways it can creep into my own thinking," he acknowledged.
The dad, quickly becoming a feminist icon of sorts, asserted that he "wants to be an ‘ally' not only to my daughters, but to all women."
