Why Dads?

Irene Maragos

In my 17-year teaching career, I often noticed that the father was the more silent, reserved and distant parent especially when raising daughters, as mom usually sorted girl-related matters. That was my impression – but I was wrong, thankfully. When given a voice, the acquired wisdom of dads of daughters deserves to be heard. I decided to hand them the microphone.

I launched Dads of Daughters on Father’s Day 2019 to document the stories and experiences of dads, how they navigate and build their relationship with their daughters to shed some light on their ups and downs, their joys and fears, the challenges they run into, coping mechanisms and unedited reality of bringing up the women of the future.

Dads of daughters come from all corners or the world, walks of life and family status. Their words, wisdom and voices are available on ihaveadaughter.com, an open, non-judgmental platform with content that’s relatable and benefits other dads and carers in similar situations.

If you’re a dad of a daughter and would like to share an experience or story, we’re here to listen. Contact Us and Irene or Emma will get in touch to arrange an interview.

Emma Collier

My preferred way of connecting has always been through storytelling, a medium even more rewarding when there’s an opportunity for these stories to stand for a common purpose, such as the Dads of Daughters project. Though men may not always possess the same natural inclination as women toward discussing their feelings about an experience—to the point where they may even outright avoid it sometimes—I’ve found when given a safe space to do so with someone whose interest is sincere, they have a wealth of wisdom to impart that deserves to be heard. We’re here to make sure that happens.

I grew up without a father—which, unfortunately, in my situation is a good thing from what little I know about him from my mother, and his lack of interest in being a positive presence in either of our lives. It wasn’t until my early 20s though that I realized how much not having a healthy strong male role model in my life had impacted me. The father-daughter dynamic plays a significant role in how women learn to show up in relationships, both in what they come to believe they deserve, what they are confident enough to offer and ask for, and how they navigate intimacy in general. Without those guidelines, I was improvising, at best, for many years.

At Dads of Daughters, my role is to facilitate the telling of as many of these stories as possible—from the most beautiful moments to the darkest ones; to unite the fathers from around the world all doing their best to raise the strong, incredible women of the future with respect to their cultures, belief systems, and resources; and for the moments they choose to share to be gathered in one place so anyone in a similar situation may find the insight they need simply by reading them. Here’s to all the wonderful fathers of the world who have already shared their stories and to all those still to come!

Angelo Sioulas

It was the humble and genuine approach of documenting the voices of dads that grabbed my attention.

At Dads of Daughters we explore different options when editing and sharing the stories of real people – ordinary dads, of all ages and backgrounds who share their father-daughter experiences. Most of all, it’s the idea of creating a global community – one voice at a time that drives me to bring out the humanness of fatherhood.