My first-grade daughter is in her first year of American Heritage Girls, a faith-based character building organization that aims to mold girls ages 5-18 into young leaders. Activities are structured to build self-esteem through service to God, family, community, and country. Having strong families as a foundation for strong character is something I want my daughter to know from an early age. Being a firm believer that children need both parents, I get involved with as many things as I can with my kids.

One of the activities I’m most eager for is the Daddy Daughter Date Night coming up this weekend. The troop is planning a night of bowling and fun for all of our daughters. Having just purchased a tuxedo for another event, I thought it would be fun to go the extra mile, get all gussied up and show my daughter how she ought to be treated on a date. My wife found a very fancy dress for her (on a very steep discount—BONUS!), and we’re going to paint the town red for a couple of hours.

Seems harmless, right? I mean, not only harmless, but a strong model of how my daughter should expect to be treated.

Apparently, I’m now a member of the oppressing patriarchy that pigeonholes stereotypical gender identities that society forces upon us, or something. (Man, society is a really tough force to overcome these days!)

One columnist in the UK said daddy-daughter dates are “everything that is wrong in the world”:

It makes father daughter time into a rarity, it reduces a man to nothing more than a babysitter, it sends the message that by hanging out with his child a man is doing something noteworthy or even strange. So by all means, spend some quality time with your children. But don’t use the language of an adult sexual relationship to describe it, and let’s stop handing out gold stars to any man who wants to spend some time with his kid.

Yup. This kind of activity is the source of all misery in the world according to the self-described “snowflake.”

These aren’t sweet. They aren’t cute. They’re creepy, and they seek to enforce patriarchal notions of femininity. These little girls, who are taken out on dates by their fathers, are taught that men should do everything for them. Men open the door. Men pull out the chair. Men buy everything. Men even pick out their dresses and purses, in Fladager’s daughter’s case. It’s incumbent on the man to “ask questions” and draw her out. And it’s his job to validate her inner and outer beauty.