We live in Dubai and we see a lot of these bro dads, but they're mostly Australians or South Africans. I think it really has to do with growing up in a place where you spend so much time outside because the weather is great and that encourages the development of outgoing behavior and a preference for outdoor activities. They are always hitting the beaches with their kids, swimming, kite sailing, paddle boarding, or going dune bashing in the desert, or camping in the mountains on the weekends. They drive big 4x4s and are mostly in good physical shape though by mid 40s the beer will start to catch up. A lot have tattoos. The kids love them.

Interestingly enough, they tend not to sail. Our sailing club doesn't have bro dads. The men are more.... "grown up". I'm not implying I find the bro dads immature, but it's just a different attitude to life that makes them seem younger and they probably find sailing too staid. And that's just fine. It takes all sorts to make this world of ours.

Since we are talking about cliches, what about these:

The preppy dads? Former lacrosse players who are loyal alums of their private schools and turn a blind eye at their son's wild antics because boys will be boys?

The hipster dads who can't get over getting older and still have scruffy beards and play in a band on the weekend and brew their own beer?

The emasculated urban liberal dad who panders to every social justice cause and takes his kids to all the protests even though the kids really don't understand what's going on and are little more than pawns of their parents' political beliefs?

The banker dads, who don't know what to do with their children so they never come home till after the kids are asleep?

The "smart" dads, usually doctors and science researchers and more intellectual lawyers and professors, who are too smart to understand why little kids are different from adults and fail to understand children grow up at different paces and levels of maturity.

Any others?

Anonymous wrote:DCdads- once called “meridian pint republicans”.
A transplant from somewhere else.
Socially liberal but think Bernie is too far left and anyone who voted for Jill Stein is bonkers
Perhaps once a college republican but the “party left me” stance.
Not into clothes but thinks toe shoes on my end is stupid. Dockers from Costco is fine
Votes dem not but damn the dc council
Is getting too far left, someone has to pay for all this! Mortgage is too high, charter schools a
Crap shoot and maybe grandparents will chip into private.
Loves craft brew play dates.
Maybe this is just EoTP dads?

That’s def not a dcdad. A dcdad trues too hard to be a bro dad

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bro dads are fun and healthy.

Untrue. But LOL.

They drink too much and fall for moronic diet fads. They Guy Fieri out with age and resemble sunburned, mildly racist manatees well before they turn 50.

GUy is the ultimate cal bro dad

And tucking the thumb inside the fist is so on point! But I’m from the south and if you’re gonna be in a fight throw the first punch properly.

DCdads- once called “meridian pint republicans”.
A transplant from somewhere else.
Socially liberal but think Bernie is too far left and anyone who voted for Jill Stein is bonkers
Perhaps once a college republican but the “party left me” stance.
Not into clothes but thinks toe shoes on my end is stupid. Dockers from Costco is fine
Votes dem not but damn the dc council
Is getting too far left, someone has to pay for all this! Mortgage is too high, charter schools a
Crap shoot and maybe grandparents will chip into private.
Loves craft brew play dates.
Maybe this is just EoTP dads?

Someone tell me about DC dads.

Anonymous wrote:I’m from Greenwich, CT and now live in Chevy Chase. This thread is fascinating since I’m pretty sure I have never met a Bro Dad.

Go to the playground at Lawton in Chevy Chase. You'll see a Bro Dad there now and then, especially on weekends.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'll take a stab at DC-area Bro Dads:

- Golfs. Like, actually likes it, not just for networking
- Fit, but not "too" fit ("dad bod")
- Polo shirts and ballcaps on the weekend
- Drinks beer
- May or may not smoke weed, but never around the kids
- Listens to Dave Mathews Bland- sorry, I mean "Band"
- Played guitar in college to get chicks, may play in a hobby band with his bro dad pals
- College educated
- Cell phone clipped to his belt (which is often one of those woven leather jobs)
- General air of benign douchebaggery

Did I miss anything?

This is every 38 year old white guy in this town.

No, no way. The dads around here are nowhere cool enough to be bro dads. They’re not masculine enough.

You think wearing a cell phone on your belt and playing the guitar as a middle aged man is cool

I’m from Greenwich, CT and now live in Chevy Chase. This thread is fascinating since I’m pretty sure I have never met a Bro Dad.

Anonymous wrote:I'm a woman and I call my toddler DS Buddy sometimes, along with Nugget, Tiny, Lovebug, Munchkin, Sweetheart, Baby, Bunny, and his actual name and variations thereon, and probably a bunch of other names I'm forgetting. I am definitely not a bro. What's up with the antipathy to buddy, out of curiosity?

I hate when parents call child, Buddy. It is analogous to cool slang, too lazy to come up with a good nickname.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm from Southern California (Orange County area) and there's definitely a type of Bro Dad here. Basically, they dress like high school surfer boys but they are in their late 30s and have two kids.

Typical SoCal Bro Dad:
-Drives a lifted 4x4 pick-up truck with a Monster Energy sticker on the back window, blasting Sublime or System of a Down
-Always sporting a Hurley baseball cap with a flat rim
-A plaid Billabong button up shirt and dark colored pants are what he wears to "dress up" for holiday cards
-Vans sneakers
-Owns a few pairs of Dickies shorts
-"Vacations" consist of going to Glamis for off-roading, camping at Pismo Beach, or heading to Big Bear to snowboard on 6 inches of man-made snow in the freestyle park
-Constantly bitches about "how crowded SoCal has become" and un-ironically throws out a bit of casual racism by blaming "the Mexicans"

I've yet to find similar Bro Dads anywhere else in the U.S. It's a bizarre combination of privilege, Peter Pan syndrome, being culturally stuck in the late 1990s.

Fascinating. What do these people do for a living? What are their wives and houses like?

Lots of them work in small and mid-sized family-owned businesses, especially in the construction trades. They hire lots of "the Mexicans" to do the hard labor while they/their fathers count the money. A lot of them f#cked around for a few years after high school, went to CC or CalState school part-time and got a "business" degree, and are taking over the reins of the modestly lucrative companies built by their dads.

Forget Hollywood or Silicon Beach, real estate is truly the lifeblood of Southern California. Everyone has someone in their family who is a licensed contractor, house flipper, mortgage originator, RE agent, landlord, or plumbing/electrician working on new developments.

Otherwise, a lot of the "bro dads" work for action sports companies - surf wear, outdoor gear, etc. A lot of the famous surf companies have their headquarters in Orange County. Basically working on lifestyle brands.

HFS. There is a guy like this two streets down from me. Also lots of calf tats.

My neighbor has calf tats, works in sales, plays guitar, drives a large truck, etc. His father had a family owned business in the construction trades but he did not take it over. Seems be really involved with his kids and a fun dad.


Is he a bro dad?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm from Southern California (Orange County area) and there's definitely a type of Bro Dad here. Basically, they dress like high school surfer boys but they are in their late 30s and have two kids.

Typical SoCal Bro Dad:
-Drives a lifted 4x4 pick-up truck with a Monster Energy sticker on the back window, blasting Sublime or System of a Down
-Always sporting a Hurley baseball cap with a flat rim
-A plaid Billabong button up shirt and dark colored pants are what he wears to "dress up" for holiday cards
-Vans sneakers
-Owns a few pairs of Dickies shorts
-"Vacations" consist of going to Glamis for off-roading, camping at Pismo Beach, or heading to Big Bear to snowboard on 6 inches of man-made snow in the freestyle park
-Constantly bitches about "how crowded SoCal has become" and un-ironically throws out a bit of casual racism by blaming "the Mexicans"

I've yet to find similar Bro Dads anywhere else in the U.S. It's a bizarre combination of privilege, Peter Pan syndrome, being culturally stuck in the late 1990s.

Fascinating. What do these people do for a living? What are their wives and houses like?

Lots of them work in small and mid-sized family-owned businesses, especially in the construction trades. They hire lots of "the Mexicans" to do the hard labor while they/their fathers count the money. A lot of them f#cked around for a few years after high school, went to CC or CalState school part-time and got a "business" degree, and are taking over the reins of the modestly lucrative companies built by their dads.

Forget Hollywood or Silicon Beach, real estate is truly the lifeblood of Southern California. Everyone has someone in their family who is a licensed contractor, house flipper, mortgage originator, RE agent, landlord, or plumbing/electrician working on new developments.

Otherwise, a lot of the "bro dads" work for action sports companies - surf wear, outdoor gear, etc. A lot of the famous surf companies have their headquarters in Orange County. Basically working on lifestyle brands.

HFS. There is a guy like this two streets down from me. Also lots of calf tats.

Anonymous wrote:What is the opposite pole from a Bro-Dad?

A DCUM dad?

A 38 year old 5'57" pale, skinny white male, actively questioning his gender? He drives a Prius, if he drives anything at all, or has a e-scooter. Or one of those long cargo-bike things with child seats. When he makes a fist, he tucks his thumb inside. All his casual clothes are by Patagonia. He drinks tea, and has a beard with glitter in it.

I just spit water on my computer laughing so hard at this.

What is the opposite pole from a Bro-Dad?

A DCUM dad?

A 38 year old 5'57" pale, skinny white male, actively questioning his gender? He drives a Prius, if he drives anything at all, or has a e-scooter. Or one of those long cargo-bike things with child seats. When he makes a fist, he tucks his thumb inside. All his casual clothes are by Patagonia. He drinks tea, and has a beard with glitter in it.

Anonymous wrote:Bro dads are fun and healthy.

Untrue. But LOL.

They drink too much and fall for moronic diet fads. They Guy Fieri out with age and resemble sunburned, mildly racist manatees well before they turn 50.