Across #Parenttok, the "dusty son" trend has picked up steam.
A typical "dusty son" post features a short video clip of a parent doing an activity with their child before the video zooms in on the parent giving the camera a warning look. Often, the posts include a caption or text explaining the parent is doing said activity so their child won't be influenced by the viewer's hypothetical "dusty son," an umbrella term that has come to mean a man who isn't pulling his weight or disrespecting others, among other undesirable traits.
Today, the hashtag #DustySon has gathered over 101 million views on TikTok, and many of the videos under the tag are from mothers.
But among them are videos from content creator and dad Eric Taylor. Taylor, a father of two young girls, estimates he has been sharing his own "dusty son" videos on his Instagram and TikTok pages for the last four to five months.
One of Taylor's hit "dusty son" videos, which now has over 1.8 million views, features him attending a tea party with his 6-year-old and 4-year-old girls, whom he shares with wife Rudyko Anaya-Chavez.
He said he was inspired to create his videos because he recognized aspects of the series in himself and it spoke to him as a father who wants more for his daughters than what he had growing up without a father figure. It didn't hurt that the series was funny too.
"It resonated with me because I realized how much I didn't take responsibility for things and how that was kind of ingrained in me as a boy coming up," Taylor told "Good Morning America."
As much as the videos are lighthearted and in jest, there has been some criticism of the "dusty son" trend. Some say the trend dismisses the hard work parents put into raising upstanding boys and young men.
Taylor, a former teacher, said he doesn't want to discount his fellow hardworking parents.
"There are a lot of people who come into the comments and a lot of them, [like] boy moms ... were like, 'How dare you talk about my son?' [But] I'm obviously not talking directly to you," he said.
Instead, Taylor said his "dusty son" videos are more about him as a parent and what he hopes to instill in his young children as they grow up.
"I don't ever want anybody to feel guilty," he said. "My disclaimer is to let people know, 'I was dusty, I still got dust on me and I'm trying to work that off.'"
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He also hopes to shine a spotlight on fathers in general and inspire other dads like him to take an active role in parenthood.
"I feel like sometimes it's forgotten that there are men doing the work out there, especially for their daughters," Taylor said.
"The point behind the 'dusty son' trend is twofold," he added. "It's to help men understand who they're supposed to be and what they can do to make their lives better, especially for the women in their lives, but [also] to be a great spouse and to be a great husband. The second purpose ... is to let my daughters know exactly how much I love them and exactly how much they deserve, which is the world -- and they need to recognize that they deserve respect and how to give respect."
