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Dad's epic takedown of critics who insulted his daughters' formal dresses: 'That ain't happening!'

By Merryn Porter |

When proud dad Matt Austin posted a photo of himself with his two daughters before their first school dance, it sparked a controversy that has since seen him wind up on the other side of the news he usually reports.

Austin, a news anchor in the US state of Florida, had innocently uploaded the photo of himself with his two daughters Addison, 17, and Olivia, 14, and was shocked when people started criticising his daughters' choice of attire. ?

So the next day, after first getting the OK from his wife and daughters, he filmed and uploaded a video to his TikTok account to answer the critics. The clip has since gone viral, racking up more than 6 million views so far.

Watch the video above.

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Matt Austin took to TikTok to unleash on those who criticised his daughters' choice of clothing. (TikTok)

Austin told TODAY Parents this week he was initially shocked by the reaction to his October 8 Facebook post about his daughters' first Homecoming dance, which is similar to the Australian formal.

"My daughters look a little too good on Homecoming night," he wrote. "Believe it or not, they're even more beautiful on the inside."

The accompanying photo shows him standing between his two daughters. One is wearing a watermelon pink mini dress and high heels, while the other is sporting a black dress and matching stilettos.

But while there were many positive comments, there were also negative ones.

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The photo that sparked the controversy. (Facebook)

"Honestly, I would not let them go anywhere dressed like that!" wrote one person.

"These outfits these girls are wearing are exactly what call girls wear," said another, while another wrote, "It's also the parents job to make sure their daughters don't dress like a... well like that!"

"Sorry, my daughters would never leave the house looking for sale," said another.

Austin went on a mission to destroy the fashion police. (TikTok)

Noticing the flood of nasty comments, the very next day Austin decided to act, uploading the 90-second video he called "Dad destroys fashion police".

"A dad responds to Karens taking aim at teen daughters' Homecoming dresses" he said in the caption, along with the hashtags #fashiontiktok #parentsoftiktok #fyp and #hoco.

?"So I put up what I thought was a pretty innocuous post about my daughters looking beautiful for Homecoming, but you would be shocked by some of the comments," he began, before reading out some, which he also shared on the screen.

"So one thing that has always pissed me off as a father of girls is when people say things like, 'Well, these girls need to dress so they don't distract the boys' or even worse, 'They're dressing in a way in which they're asking for it'," he continued.

"Let's get something crystal clear now. It's not my daughter's job to make sure your son is focused in school. Also not her job to dress hideous enough to where your son doesn't assault her. It's your job to not raise a pervert with no self-control."

"That ain't happening," said Austin of calls for him to dictate what his daughters wear. (TikTok)

Austin continued, "Let's be clear, those outfits are not the ones I would choose for my daughters to leave the house. If it was up to me.

"But if I start dictating what my daughters wear, I'm going to teach them three things. A. They'll start to hate me for arbitrary rules. B. They'll start to lie to me or C. Maybe even worse. That it's OK for a man to tell them what to wear because they look too good, and that ain't happening Karen.

"But you know what would really disappoint me? If my girls grew up to be the kind of adult who goes on social media and demeans a teen's appearance on her father's Facebook page. Now that's what I call trashy," he ended the rant.

And it clearly hit a nerve with watchers, with the video so far receiving more than 1.3 million likes and 41,000 comments.

Matt Austin is a news anchorman in Florida who usually reports the news, not makes it. (Facebook)

"This! I wish everyone could have this mindset," one of his followers wrote.

"I have a boy and girl and agree with everything you've stated!?" said another.

"Love this post! Stand up to these typical Insecure outdated Karens," wrote another.

"Real parents empower and support their kids, that's exactly what he's doing," was another comment.

Austin told TODAY Parents he wanted to rewrite the narrative we've heard "our entire lives."

"It's the idea that women are assaulted for dressing a certain way or because they went jogging at night. Why don't we put the onus on creeps? That doesn't seem like a controversial stance," he said.

As for what he hopes to have achieved, he said the only audience "I truly care about is my daughters."

"I have always told my girls that I have their back and I think I've proven that," he said.

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