Should I Call Them Daddy?

“Daddy, Daddy, Daddy” TikTok Trend and If We Should Call Our Romantic Partners Daddy

Endless emails, subway ads, and rolling IG stories have so intricately reminded us that Father’s Day is this month. It’s no question that Dads are important. They come in all shapes and sizes. Dads aren’t just biological or declared by legal papers, fathers are uncles, brothers, neighbors, and romantic partners.

Using the word Daddy has become such a controversial topic that Father’s Day has me wondering…

Should we call them Daddy?

The term “Daddy” has been TikToked, branded, and debated. With the end of the Daddy obsession, nowhere in sight. Daddy has many definitions. The first is a sexual reference to one’s partner in bed. A nickname, or a kinky fetish. It also may be a term of endearment, showing dominance, or an appreciation of a partner for taking care of the other.

Shifting through the dimmed alleys of Reddit, no one can seem to pin down what Daddy means. Is it appropriate? Antifeminist? Society slices the term in so many directions the world has lost its grip on it.

The TikTok viral sound “Daddy? Daddy? Daddy?” plays endlessly in my mind, unsure if I find it funny, or concerning, or if I’m feeling aroused. I then go through all the emotions of feeling guilty for thinking either of these reactions are bad.

Not that I ever was one to call my dad “Daddy”, but the idea of also calling someone whose penis goes inside me by the name feels very Freudian. The simple discussion of using the term in a romantic relationship makes the original use of the word feel different.

I don’t know how to feel about the word Daddy. But it’s not going away. So, we must figure out some solution for the definition. Alex Cooper coined Daddy, making her one of the most influential podcast hosts in the world with Call Her Daddy. If she can figure out how to live with the word, then we can find our lane.

Whether you’re a fan of the word or not, figuring out how using Daddy makes you feel is a start. The second is learning that another person’s use of the word is none of our business. The controversial topic is too controversial to even say what’s right and wrong. It’s a waste of breath to fight its inevitable use if that’s how you feel.

Daddy is a part of our culture. It’s here to stay. It’s the punch line to endless jokes, a term to search on Pornhub, an outlet to the world of a dominant/submissive relationship, a comforting nickname for a partner, and the name of one’s father figure.

And it doesn’t need to only have one definition. Daddy is confusing. We can’t completely unjumble the word in our brains, but we could dissect what it means to each of us. And it’s not something that we can discover overnight. You may be neutral to the word until someone asks you to call them Daddy in bed or as a daily nickname. You could very well be into it or could very well not. However, neither feeling should come with shame.

Maybe you want to be called Daddy. Look at Alex Cooper. We’ve been calling her Daddy for years; now she’s a millionaire. The Daddy conversations won’t end, but I’ll leave you with some thoughts I’ve pulled from conversations with friends, Reddit debates, TikTok, and experiences I’ve had with the word. This Father’s Day month, let’s discover our meaning of Daddy. *Don’t feel bad for any reactions you may have to the following. With Daddy, every feeling is acceptable.

Daddy is a term used for a father figure. Used mostly by younger children, adults over the age of 18 still use the word when referring to their father.
Daddy is a way to show appreciation for your partner in a nonsexual/sexual way. It is a nickname either given by the partner or requested by the Daddy themselves.
In a dominant/submissive sexual relationship, the dominant partner is called Daddy. This may also be the case in sexual relationships that aren’t dom-focused. Ex: “Call me Daddy”
Daddy refers to women who say or do something powerful, coining the predominately masculine word for themselves.
Romantic relationships loosely use Daddy as a funny anecdote, never saying the word in a serious context. More enduring than sexual.

Happy Daddy Day!