Some sexual stereotypes refuse to die.

Take daddy issues, for example. Any young lady who has a less-than-ideal relationship with her father is instantly labeled as damaged.

She’s a slut, she’s psychotic, or she’s not stable enough to handle romantic relationships. Over time, it’s become a catch-all expression for men to describe any woman who is simply too high-maintenance or inconvenient for him to deal with.

My entire life, this cliché pissed me right off. Not only is it misogynistic, but it’s also used to ridicule and dismiss women who might already be struggling with abandonment issues.

Talk about adding insult to injury, assholes.

So imagine my frustration when scientists revealed that their research supports the idea of daddy issues — that girls who have an unstable relationship with their fathers are more likely to lose their virginity at a younger age, become pregnant as teenagers, be more promiscuous and engage in "risky sexual behaviors." Maybe the stereotype is more legitimate than I wanted to admit.

In one study, researchers found that girls who had deadbeat dads more often had unprotected sex, combined sex with drugs or alcohol, had sex with someone who injects drugs, had sex with someone abusive or were more likely to be paid for engaging in sexual activity.

The study looked at sisters whose parents split, and compared older sisters who had daddy around during adolescence to younger sisters who didn’t spend as much time with him.

Researchers claimed that comparing full biological sisters who grew up under the same family conditions ruled out the possible influence of genetics and environmental factors.

The results confirm the stereotype. If papa was a great parent, older sisters were less promiscuous than their little sisters. If papa was a terrible parent, older sisters (who spent the most time dealing with dad’s abuse) were more likely than younger sisters to whore it up in the ways described above.

Other studies have found that young ladies with absent fathers start having sex at an earlier age and are more likely to become teen moms. In fact, the researchers found that women whose fathers disappeared before the age of 6 were five times more likely to become pregnant as a teenager.

It’s important to note, these outcomes only applied when dads abandoned their daughters. Women whose fathers had died didn’t seem to cope with their loss by sleeping around.

The explanation behind these findings is always the same sentimental crap — supportive fathers promote a sense of security, independence, confidence and self-esteem. Without these personality traits instilled by daddy dearest, ladies become self-conscious, desperate for male attention and struggle to form long-lasting relationships. They throw around their pussies like they’re hot potatoes.

Some fellas blame daddy issues when they’re called “daddy” in bed. Others presume daddy issues are the impetus behind sugar babies, where girls seek out protective older men to fill the void left by their pops. I’m tempted to say that they’re wrong, but the science probably wouldn’t support me.

It seems daddy issues do have real consequences in women’s sex lives. And while I’m not usually one to slut-shame, it’s a damn tragedy to see ladies looking for validation in all the wrong places/penises.

[cover photo by Juliane Liebermann on Unsplash]