T.I. Explains Why He Parents His Daughters Differently Than His Sons

T.I. got himself in hot water with remarks he made about his daughter Deyjah Harris and her virginity last November. Tip decided to address this overbearing attitude during a recent episode of T.I. & Tiny: Friends & Family Hustle.

In the episode, Tip spoke to his friend, the singer Monica, about how she handles her sons' dating lives. This prompted the rapper to use his confessional interview to explain why he feels the need to protect his daughters more than his sons.

"To be honest with you, I only feel the need to protect the girls from heartbreak. So for me, it's about making sure that my daughters grow up as happy and unencumbered by outsiders tweaking their emotions as possible," the 39-year-old said. "That doesn't mean that I don't want my daughters to date or have experiences. It just means I know that they will hold on to those experiences and I don't know how that will translate when they come out of it."

In contrast, T.I. believes sons have to go through this adversity. He stated that a boy doesn't truly know who they are until they have experienced heartbreak. This is the same double standard that created a wave of backlash with the Deyjah comments.

During an interview with Hollywood Life, T.I.'s 24-year-old stepdaughter Zonnique touched on the dynamic created by Tip's parenting.

"Since we were all younger he’s always been super protective over the girls. And it always seemed like the boys could just do whatever," Zonnique explained. "My mom will always argue, like, you don’t care that the boys go on dates, you let their girlfriends come over. You know we meet their girlfriends, it’s all cool, it’s like a regular thing. But you know, if I’m in a relationship and I bring my boyfriend over, the whole family has to talk to him. He has to go outside with pops and have these hour-long conversations."