'My husband won’t hold our daughter because she’s a girl'
COMMENT: "It's meant to be funny, watching the sobbing baby's rejection by her dad. But can a genuine trauma experienced worldwide ever bring the LOLs?"
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There's something deeply disturbing about the latest clip from 'mumfluencer' Sammie Head; my eyes needed a shower after watching it.
Head films her baby crawling to her husband - the girl's dad.
He turns and walks away from his daughter, and the rejected child bursts into heart-wrenching tears.
As if that isn't bad enough, it's been posted as 'humour', and text on it reads, "My husband won’t hold our daughter because she’s a girl."
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"Because she's a girl"
Head, who has almost 800k followers on the platform, is known for her 'dry sense of humour' and funny takes on the realities of motherhood and marriage.
Being a non-professional comedian myself, I respect her hustle in principle.
But even I couldn't pull off making people laugh about a sobbing baby's rejection by her dad.
Because, could a genuine trauma experienced by millions of girls worldwide ever bring really bring the LOLs?
No one was laughing
The post has amassed more than three million views, but just because it's gone viral, doesn't mean it's been a success.
I scrolled through the comments and could only find a handful of positive words. That's not because people didn't 'get the joke'. They simply didn't think it was funny.
Instead, most of the thousands of comments described absolute horror:
"What sort of parents do a video like this just for social media clout? Repulsive from both of you."
"First TikTok to make me cry this year."
"Even if it’s a skit no child deserves that treatment."
"Oh man, I know it’s a skit but that was heartbreaking for that little baby."
In fact, it was so unbelievable that Head and her husband could film and post the incident as an attempt at humour, some believed it was genuine.
"Why do you allow this to happen? You need to leave and protect this baby girl. The absolutely not right. That's a heartless jerk," one said of the baby's dad.
This viewer agreed: "That's heartbreaking. I would definitely leave I wouldn't raise my daughter in a house where her father was treating her that way."
And this one was compelled to add: "Imagine having a baby just to make money off of neglect. This poor kid will remember what this feels like forever. Shit parents for this poor kid."
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"My parents didn't care for me because I am a girl"
Neglected kids, those in families with difficult dynamics, children of addicts (including workaholics) - any child, really - can experience paternal rejection daily. We all know this happens; we see it at the school gate, in the families around us, hear about the devastating consequences on the news, and/or have experienced it ourselves.
So it's not surprising that some viewers spoke from experience when they told Head she was wrong to joke about it - especially when it came to girls.
"My parent did not care for me because I was a girl. When my parents turned 80s, no sons showed up. I had to care for them, like cooking, changing their diapers, feed them, etc.. No one paid me to do this," one broken soul shared.
Then there was this sad anecdote: "I know someone who didn't speak to his partner for a week after finding out they were having a girl. He is no longer in their lives."
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Sammie Head's TikTok is the epitome of privilege
In many societies around the world, the culture traditionally values male children over females. By 'traditionally' I mean it's ingrained.
Story time: Have you ever heard of China's One Child policy?
As an attempt at population control, for decades, China restricted families to having one child. But such was the culturally inherent desire to have a male offspring, if a girl was born, she was often abandoned so the parents could keep trying for a boy.
In fact, "Over 30 years of China’s one-child policy, an estimated 20 million baby girls “disappeared” due to sex-selective abortions or infanticide."
And I have a story closer to home: I know a woman whose Indian dad was so determined to have a boy that after five girls with his wife, he began affairs with women to conceive a son.
And that was in Sydney.
In that context, Sammie Head's video, and her text overlay especially, is the epitome of privilege.
In 2025 she can't claim to be ignorant of the plight of girls everywhere; she does know, doesn't care, and is using her baby to joke about it.
She's yet another monster/creator hiding in plain sight; the only comfort is that she will be outed soon enough.
TikTok, do your thing.
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Originally published as 'My husband won’t hold our daughter because she’s a girl'