WATCH: Dads who braid together parent for the better...
Breaking one gender stereotype a braid at a time...
As lovers of Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, we admire the fact that the butch and muscular outward appearance doesn't equate to a hard and tough interior. He has been spotlighted in the media often as the attentive father and we are glad to see that he's not the only one.
Many fathers have been doing this for years and have not been given proper props for being present and engaged with their daughters. So here's to saying goodbye to gender stereotypes that say only mothers braid hair...
And saying hello to the real house braiders of family life - the dads!
Annis Waugh from St Albans-based Braid Maidens has had a passion for braiding hair since she was a young girl. She began running classes to teach parents how to braid at a school last year.
And as much as she has never excluded males from signing up to her classes, she found that there were no bookings by males. Then she decided to do male and female-only classes, and bam, her male classes sold out and there's even a waiting list.
Waugh shared that her thinking behind male-only classes came from the fact that they would all be learning something together and be in the same boat.
She told BBC: "It just made me really happy that they were keen and up for it. I don't think that would have been the case 20 to 30 years ago. It's 2022 and people co-parent and split things far more down the middle these days."
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WATCH the video below of one of the male classes, courtesy of Instagram.
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Waugh shared that many of the females in her classes shared sentimental stories of their own dads braiding their hair as young girls. It's clear that the sentiment behind it is special and a bonding time for fathers, daughters, and even sons with long hair.
It was funny to hear that she found that in her male classes, the men were more competitive and harder with themselves to get it right. She also added that for her, the pleasure came in with seeing adults learn a new skill. She also just wants to share a traditional skill and sees it as her legacy...
Image Courtesy of TikTok