This phrase makes me cringe so much, and you might feel similarly. To say that someone has “daddy issues” is typically a fast way to metaphorically throw a punch to someone’s gut — and that someone is usually a woman. In my experience, this phrase is casually thrown around as an insult that’s used to discredit what a woman experiences in an intimate relationship. As in, when someone expresses a concern in a relationship, they can be met with. “They just have daddy issues that they’re projecting onto me.” 

I want to focus on two of the many ways this can be harmful.