Dad 'proposes' to his 20-year-old daughter with purity ring and sparks controversy

A father has come under fire after he ‘proposed’ to his 20-year-old daughter with a purity ring.

That’s right, not only did he propose, but with a ring which signifies abstinence. Woah.

So, the whole thing began when Patrick, a Christian content creator on TikTok, decided to surprise his daughter, named Sarah.

Maybe it was supposed to be a wholesome moment, but the strange messaging behind the ring as well as his words didn’t sit well with viewers.

In the clip, you can see Patrick talk to his daughter about how ‘proud’ his is that she has remained ‘pure’. Again, yikes.

He then proceeded to get down on one knee and presented her with a purity ring so that she could continue her promise to him and to God.

A father proposing to his daughter with a purity ring is doing the rounds on TikTok. (Getty Stock Image)

He said in the video that it wasn’t an actual proposal, but it was just to show his daughter how proud he was of her.

He said to her: "First of all, you're 20 years old, and most kids your age are not pure. Well, I want to thank you for being here and give you something. Sarah, will you wear this ring as a sign and a promise to God and to me to remain pure until the day you're married?"

Many viewers has some strong feelings about the now-private account, with one saying: "20?!?!?! Purity ring?!?!?! Dad?!?!?!"

And another said: "So this is actually wild. There’s no way to spin this to be a cute thing."

But others saw the good in the gesture, with one saying: "This broken generation will not understand the purpose of this … comments did not pass the vibe check . Guarding her heart is important."

The debate about teaching young girls’ abstinence has been long associated with increased statistics on sexually transmitted diseases, teen pregnancies and damaging thoughts about their bodies and sexualities.

In fact, a 2017 review in the Journal of Adolescent Health found that abstinence education policies found that girls who pledged to abstinence had higher chances of all of the above things compared to girls who didn’t pledge to be ‘pure’.

Patrick got down on one knee to pledge purity. (TikTok/@justadadandhisladybug)

In an interview with Verywell Mind, Hannah Mayderry (LMHC), a licensed mental health counselor who grew up in a fundamentalist Christian family, agrees.

She explained that those who subscribe to purity culture are affected in most areas of their lives.

She said: "Women are often taught their sexuality is something that should be bottled up and shoved down.

"That encompasses everything from the way that they dress, the way that they interact with men, the way that they speak, the way that they view their own bodies and their own sex drive."

Mayderry continued: "I think that we need to shift away from that and realize that our kids are going to do what they're going to do because of how we parent them, because of their exposures in society, not because we had a talk with them.”

If anyone really thinks that the purity ring thing truly works, take a peek at the Jonas Brothers... Those boys did not last long.