Fathers and Daughters

"And So On -- Ten Years Old" John Fitch IV Column

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In this John Fitch IV column Cormier shares stories of his daughter as she turns 10, "a magic moment in life, poised between childhood and adolescence." Still obsessed with horses, she is now also becoming aware of fashion and her own appearance. Cormier recounts a particularly significant haircut, the piercing of her ears, and a crush on television star, David Soul, from Starsky and Hutch.

"Ballerina, Turn Around" John Fitch IV Column

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Here Cormier talks about his eight-year-old daughter. Much of the article consists of him offering various numbers that define her - her age, her weight, her height, etc. These numbers, this arithmetic terrifies him - for each day that proceeds she grows older and older. Eventually, she will no longer be his little girl. Just as her older sister, then 18, she will leave her childhood behind.

"That Certain Child" John Fitch IV Column

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This piece shares Cormier's daughter's reaction to her father's column that focused on her figures and arithmetic. When she tells him how embarrassed she felt, he thinks about how this would not have happened when she was younger and less aware of herself and others around her. One particular point of shame related to the fact that he shared her weight with the world.

"The Hair Cut" John Fitch IV Column

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In this John Fitch IV column, Cormier tells the story of his daughter's haircut experience, with all the excitement and anxiety that entails for a young girl. He touches on his own barbershop anxieties and his opinions on women's hairstyles. He is relieved that his daughter is happy with her new style but it still feels like the same person.

"Goodbye Little Girl" Woman's Own

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In Cormier's short story "Goodbye Little Girl" a father comes to grips with his daughter encountering her first love. The father is skeptical of the boy and expresses sadness in the idea of being replaced by a boy who can make her happy when he cannot. This story is a revised version of "Charlie Mitchell, You Rat, Be Kind to My Little Girl" published in McCall's three months earlier.

"Charlie Mitchell, You Rat, Be Kind to My Little Girl" McCall's

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This short story features a father coming to grips with his daughter falling in love for the first time. It is difficult not to read this story as autobiographical or to overlook the gender bias regarding a woman's ability to think logically. This story was later revised and published in Woman's Own under the title, "Goodbye Little Girl".

"And So On -- Father Of The Bride" John Fitch IV Column

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In this column, Cormier considers a bride and groom. He thinks about the bride and the child she was (and continues to be) in the eyes of her father. He reflects on the giving away of the bride as a culminating goodbye after many others: when the daughter leaves for kindergarten or stops believing in Santa Claus.

RELATED LINKS:

How a dad shapes his daughter’s lifelong relationship with love In this Washington Post article, Vicki Larson rounds up several articles and interviews on the love fathers play in daughter's emotional development alongside personal reflections on her father's infidelity and her own divorces.

See Iranian Father-Daughter Relationships Through The Lens Of A Photographer Invited Into Their Homes Photographer, Nafise Motlaq, takes portraits of Iranian fathers with their daughters. Each is captioned with a quote from the daughter on her thoughts of her father. 

Fathers and Daughters