Joe Kelly

The fabulous Mike Adamick, author of the "Dads Book of Awesome Projects," also writes an edgy blog that tackles some serious dads & Daughters issues.

Earlier this month, Mike posted his take on the debate over gender portrayals in the media. As a long-time advocate on this issue (e.g., with the organization that became the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media), I appreciated his thoughts on gender equity in movies:

Over the past few days, I've blogged about the importance of Dad-Daughter communication and trust in the process of developing a healthy sense of sexuality in preteen and teen girls.

Many people think that mothers are (and should be) the exclusive source of "sex talks" for daughters.

That mindset is shortsighted on several levels; the truth is that fathers have valuable perspectives to offer, even when it comes to the birds and the bees.

As much as we fathers sometimes shudder to think of our little girl ever having sex with someone, we must understand that she needs a healthy sense of sexuality in order to be a healthy and happy woman.

It doesn’t help to fall into the over-protection trap and lead our daughters to see sexuality as inherently dangerous, dishonest or forbidden.

Yesterday, I blogged about how dads must meet the challenge of honoring their adolescent daughters' desires--including sexual desire.

I want to be clear that none of these notions are incompatible with religious beliefs or spiritual traditions. I was raised in Roman Catholicism, often seen as one of the more repressed religious traditions on the subject of sexuality.

Many (most?) dads are so frightened of a their daughters' sexual desires -- labeling them evil or dangerous -- that we hardly know those desires exist. But sexual desire is a natural human quality. It’s not doled out exclusively to the male gender.

Therefore, denying desire to girls is denying an essential part of who our daughters are.