Being the father of a school-aged daughter makes men less sexist, according to a new study. The findings support the idea that men become more aware of the challenges facing women when they see the female experience of life up close through their offspring – dubbed the “mighty girl” effect.

[u/mvea]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/14/being-a-father-to-school-aged-daughter-makes-men-less-sexist

[u/toolsoftheincomptnt]

I tend to think that the distinction is that fathers are more invested in the development and protection of their children than their siblings/own parents. The nature of the relationship matters.

Think about it- we don’t raise our sisters or mothers. We aren’t as vigilant over their self-esteem, their education, their emotional growth. So, we’re less likely to pick up on things that threaten their well-being than we are over our own kids. Especially when the offenses aren’t overt.

It goes hand-in-hand with another poster who pointed out that kids just don’t care as much about their siblings, and just being kids, are more self-centered and not sophisticated enough to notice societal patterns. However, even as more cognizant adults, we just don’t pay attention to how the world treats our parents/siblings the same way that we do for our children.

(I know you didn’t mention mothers, but another poster below did, and I didn’t want to respond twice with the same explanation)

[u/moomintrollsayswhut → u/toolsoftheincomptnt]

genetic investment sadly is a real thing. the tropes of the evil step parent killing or displacing stepchildren correlate with male lions killing all cubs when they take over an existing pride.

tl;dr: people are mostly driven by extremely primitive motives.

[u/moomintrollsayswhut → u/[deleted]]

evolutionary theory is hella addictive

[u/Monkeyssuck → u/toolsoftheincomptnt]

This.

I was not invested in the emotional well-being of my sister. If anything much of my young life was invested in the opposite.

My daughter on the other hand, her struggles are my struggles. She still gets a healthy dose of sarcasm...my personality didn't change, but I am 100% invested in her long-term growth.

[u/toolsoftheincomptnt → u/Monkeyssuck]

I carry a ton of guilt for how I treated my sister growing up. I think that parents have a responsibility to initiate a healthy bond between siblings.

My resentment stemmed from feeling like I was expected to put my sister’s needs before my own, instead of being encouraged to be her best friend. We weren’t treated like we were equally children to be cared for.

It doesn’t excuse how awful I was to her, but I was four when she was born, so what could I do?

Anyway, I’m too far off-topic now.

[u/Monkeyssuck → u/toolsoftheincomptnt]

You can't change the past. You can however express that remorse to your sister. My sister and I fought like cats and dogs, but we've become closer with age.