The more i think about it the more troubling I find the father walking down the aisle. Because even though we might call it something else, it comes from the idea of giving away property. I also find comments men make about their daughters not being allowed to date, that they know what all guys want, that they somehow should be a protector of their daughter’s virtue troubling and offensive even when said as a “joke.” In a perfect world, the idea that a father may protect his daughter is okay, because in a perfect world girls would be brought up with complete and total agency over their body. The reality is they aren’t. There are still so many accepted activities and rules which diminish girls. Just look at the number of FB posts about girls being sent home from school because they dare to wear shorts or spaghetti straps (yet boys regularly remove their shirts in PE on a hot day.)
My dad walked me down the aisle. I was young and didn’t think anything of it other than it wasn’t a nice tradition. The older I get, the more intolerant I get of all the little, seemingly benign stuff, that add to the massive wall designed to keep women in their place.