Man criticised for making toddler ‘sign’ contract that says she won’t date ‘until 2041’

‘I’ve never seen a man do this with his son,’ one person said

A TikToker has come under fire for making a toddler “sign” a fake contract promising that she will not have a boyfriend for the next 19 years.

Manel Moreira, who has 31,900 followers on the video sharing platform, recently posted a TikTok showing him giving a toddler a blank sheet of paper and a pen to “sign”.

In front of them is a white T-shirt with the words “No boyfriend until 2041” written in capital letters.

He passed the girl the pen and paper and, as she doodles on it, he poses next to her with a thumbs up. The video is captioned: “Contract signed, here we go confirmed.”

It is unclear if the young girl is related to Moreira, but he has previously posted videos about his young niece.

But the video, which has been viewed 19.6 million times at the time of writing, has sparked backlash with some people pointing out that such restrictions on dating are not placed on young boys.

“I’ve never seen a man do this with his son, or put restrictions on what age their sons can start dating,” one person commented.

Another said: “I know it’s a joke but no one would make his son sign a contract [that says] ‘no girlfriends until 2041’ and that kinda [sic] pisses me off.”

Gender equality activist and author Gina Martin called out the video and said it perpetuates a trope that sees fathers not allowing their daughters to date.

In an Instagram post, she said she was “so tired of seeing the sheer amount of this kind of stuff on TikTok”.

Martin, who successfully campaigned to make upskirting a criminal offence in 2019, continued: “This kind of restriction of a child’s (projected) choices because of their gender doesn’t look like ‘protection’ to me, it looks like patriarchy.

“And the ‘no boys allowed’, ‘stay away from boys’, ‘no boyfriends’ trope reveals you know what misogyny is and choose Man Points over actually equipping your daughter for it or meaningfully engaging with the problem, because a father that was doing that would never make this ‘joke’.”

In a further Instagram Story, Martin added that parents should instead “treat your kid like a person”.

“Little girls are not weak saps that need protecting by fathers who want to appear a hero by restricting them,” she explained. “Try empowering her with the skills to navigate a patriarchal world instead.”

Responding to the criticism, Moreira told The Independent that viewers “have a right to their own opinion” and “people can and will criticise whatever they want all over the internet”.

“Personally, I’m very indifferent to [the criticism], it doesn’t mean anything to me,” he added. “What matters the most is my family and the people I love. I want her to grow in a better environment, a safe place where there is respect, and every person has the right to their own opinion.”

“When something... goes viral like this, it’s safe to say that there will always be criticism. I think it’s important to note that, like it or not, when something is posted on the internet it is open to all types of criticism.”

Moreira also addressed comments that suggest the video leans into a particular trope that treats girls differently from boys and said: “I simply don’t answer to those types of comments. Sexism is too important to be talked in such a carefree manner.”