Man Enraged After Discovering His Wife Coerced Their Long-Haired Daughter Into Getting A Buzz Cut

Sep 07, 2023

In all stages of a child’s life, be it the formative or teenage years, parents take it upon themselves and are mostly required to guide their children and make decisions for them. However, with time, such decision-making actions are gradually left to the child, especially in their late teens and adult years. 

It is safe to say that things could go terribly wrong if parents are perceived to be superimposing choices on their children, especially if the latter’s choice is contrary. This was the case of a man identified by the username ChoiceDisastrous4432 on Reddit, who got upset with his wife for forcing their teen daughter to make a decision against her will.

The Redditor posted on the AITA community in August 2023, recounting the incident that led to his anger while seeking other Reddit users’ opinions and thoughts on the situation. The original poster (OP) explained the reason for his anger as he revealed how his wife manipulated his daughter into getting a haircut that was against her wishes. The post garnered a lot of comments, opinions, and thoughts from users on the eye-opening forum.

OP started his story by revealing the events that led to the situation. He wrote:

"My wife is currently battling cancer, and one of the things she's told me she's struggling with the most was losing her hair. She's been given a near 100% chance of survival since we caught it early, but the chemotherapy has destroyed her hair anyway, and she had to shave what was left of it off a few weeks ago."

After the Redditor's wife shaved off her hair, she started to suggest that they get their 17-year-old daughter, Anna, to do the same thing.

OP was perplexed by his wife's suggestion, but he also knew that if his daughter was to cut her hair, it should be her decision solely to willingly do that. He revealed:

"Anna has very long hair that she puts a lot of care into so I felt it was appropriate to ask her in private if she wanted to/would be willing to do such a thing."

OP revealed that his daughter did not want to cut her hair, and he respected that decision, thinking that was the end of the situation. However, he did not know that it was far from over.

He continued his post by revealing a shocking incident that occurred the day before he posted his story on the community. He wrote:

"However yesterday they came home from a "girl's shopping trip," something they do so very often, and Anna had a buzzed haircut." 

OP was surprised because his daughter had previously told him she did not want to cut her hair. Therefore, during dinner, he decided to talk to his daughter and asked her the reason she suddenly changed her decision not to cut her hair. 

The Redditor revealed that his daughter told him, "my wife had said she would not forgive Anna if she didn't show her support by buzzing her head." The father of this teen asked his daughter if she was happy about that, and she replied that she was not.

Anna’s dad continued to reveal that when he went to bed that night, he confronted his wife about what happened for their daughter to come back with a buzz cut after clearly stating that she did not want to cut her hair.

OP's wife was nonchalant about the situation and did not feel anything was wrong with it. The wife had replied:

"It was Anna's choice to or not, I just told her how I'd see the situation."

The Redditor was angry with his wife for manipulating their daughter into cutting her hair when she did not want to. He wrote:

"I told her off, saying she needed to respect Anna's personal choices and that a 17 year old girl being against shaving her head wasn't exactly out of the ordinary, however my wife simply said it was to show support for her."

The man continued by revealing that he had been sleeping on the couch ever since. Although he loves his wife, he also saw her actions as manipulative. He ended his post by writing, "I'm not sure if I can move past this to continue the relationship. AITA?"

Several people were ready to express their opinions on the situation. One user wrote, "NTA! You're wife is a flaming a**hole! I'm sorry she has cancer, but what she did to your daughter was very abusive!" Another user wrote, "Exactly! This is abuse. Period. OP please support your daughter. I'm sorry your wife has cancer but what she did to your daughter is unforgivable."

A third user wrote, "NTA Your wife's illness is tragic, but not an excuse to emotionally blackmail and ignore your daughter's body autonomy." Another person lased out, "I think it's actually pure jealousy. Mom lost her hair and hated that your daughter still had hers." Someone included, "WTF??? Shaving your hair does absolutely NOTHING for a person fighting cancer!"

Do you think this mom went overboard? What are your thoughts on the other ways one can show support to a cancer patient? Let us know, and be sure to pass this on to others.