Dad Wears Short Shorts to Teach Daughter a Lesson, Becomes Online Celeb

A Utah dad got so fed up with his teen daughter’s too-short shorts that he taught her a fashion lesson she'll never forget. Scott Mackintosh publicly modeled his own version of his daughter's Daisy Dukes and, in the process, became an Internet hero.

“I simply did this in hopes that my daughter would know of my great love for her and that she knows of her great worth,” Scott Mackintosh told the Deseret News about the photo of himself in cutoffs, which has since become a Tumblr sensation.  “Now that it has gone viral, I hope that young women everywhere understand their great worth. I will look like an idiot any day if that point gets across."

The story behind the trail of Mackintosh's short-shorts photo is as old as the Internet, beginning when his daughter posted it on Tumblr; and as of Thursday it has received over 130,000 notes from fans of the image.

“My mom told me to change my ‘slutty’ shorts before we went to dinner,” was how daughter Myley described the photo. “I said no. So my dad cut his jeans to fit in. We went to dinner and then mini golf like this.”

Then Mackintosh, a father of seven, published his side of the story on his wife's blog, Becky Mack’s Blog of Mild Chaos. He wrote:

“I know the world has varying degrees of what is modest and what is not when it comes to clothing. In our family we have pretty definite modesty guidelines; No mid-drift or low-cut shirts, no short-shorts, short skirts and we even go as far as saying no sleeveless shirts unless playing sports or on the beach. Having raised four daughters and three sons, I’m a bit protective. Some may call me old fashion, but I call it “A Dad who loves his daughters” (and sons too) I know some of you may be rolling your eyes and that’s okay, my daughter does it all the time. I’m a firm believer that the way we dress sends messages about us, and it influences the way we and others act.”

That said, he went on to describe how the short-shorts incident began one evening as the family prepared to head out to dinner and to play some mini-golf. His wife, Becky, asked Myley to change out of her inappropriately short cutoffs, but she refused.

“Instead of turning her response and disrespectful attitude into a major battle, I decided to make a ‘small’ statement on how her short-shorts maybe aren’t as ‘cute’ as she thinks!” Mackintosh wrote. That’s when he cut almost the entire legs off of an old pair of jeans and pulled them on, certain that his point would be instantly made. But Myley didn’t even notice at first; she remained stoic all through dinner and mini golf, but finally broke when they made a stop for post-game milkshakes, refusing to get out of the car with him.

“There was no ‘Dad I get it’ or ‘Dad you’re the best…. thanks for that awesome lesson,” he admitted. “I don’t think my object lesson of ‘modest is hottest’ made the statement I had intended. But no matter if social media gets the story mixed up and twisted, my daughter will always know that her dad loves her and cares about her enough to make a fool out of himself.” 

He later told local KSL News, “She’s dressed a little better since then, yes she has.”

And fellow parents have been impressed with Mackintosh's attempt to get his message across, with Twitter fans writing, “Drastic, but brilliant measures” and “Good dad!” On Becky's blog, one 19-year-old fan wrote, “I just wanted to thank you, your caring husband, your sweet sons, and the rest of your family so much for setting an example for the whole world.”

He now joins the annals of parents who have recently resorted to teaching unusual (if much more severely mortifying) lessons: California mom Frances Hena, who punished her tween this week by having her stand at a busy intersection wearing a sign that read “I was disrespecting my parents by twerking at a school dance”; the Utah girl punished for bullying another girl over her fashion sense by being forced to wear ugly clothing in public; the 12-year-old girl who, after posing with a bottle of vodka on Instagram, had to post herself holding a note that read “Since I want to post photos of me holding liquor, I am obviously not ready for social media and will be taking a hiatus until I learn what I should and should not post.”