Colton Explained Why Asking For A Father’s Permission To Propose Is So Important To Him

The Bachelor is undoubtably the reality TV show I love to hate but can't stop watching. On the current season starring Colton Underwood, it seems like not an episode goes by without the mention of Underwood's highly (and quite frankly, overly)-publicized virginity, but on this week's hometowns episode, another issue took center stage: getting permission to propose. The episode saw Underwood head to each woman's hometown, where he spoke to each father and asked their permissions to possibly propose to their daughters. People on Twitter were pissed, but understanding why Colton Underwood asked for permission to propose might shed some light on his feelings about the old-school tradition.

On Monday (Feb. 25) evening, Senior Women’s Reporter for Huffington Post, Emma Gray, took to Twitter to express her concern with Underwood asking each contestant's father for permission to potentially pop the question. "STOP ASKING MALE PARENTAL FIGURES FOR *PERMISSION* TO MARRY A WOMAN," she wrote. "(Yes, this is the hill I will die on.)" The tweet has since racked up over 12,000 likes, and even caught the attention of Underwood himself, who responded to the criticism.

"These are my values and beliefs," Underwood tweeted while quoting Gray's original tweet. "These women are independent and can clearly make decisions on their own, however, It’s a respect thing. I can only pray that if I have a daughter the man that asks her to marry her has a conversation with me first."

In short, Underwood maintains that the reason he prioritized getting the permission to propose from their fathers all comes down to his beliefs, but the Twitter drama didn't end there. Gray responded again, explaining that the entire tradition of asking a woman's father to marry her was actually pretty outdated and sexist.

In the end, Underwood simply agreed with Gray, tweeting, "Totally see where you’re coming from," and putting a stop to the conversation. Well, for a little bit. The Twitter commentary continued as fans argued whether or not Underwood was being respectful, or just plain sexist.

However, it's also important to note that not every father gave Underwood permission to pop the question to their daughter. During his hometown date with Cassie, Underwood takes the time to sit down with her father, just like he had with the three other contestants' dads. But this time, Cassie's dad was firm in his stance, and didn't give his blessing on Underwood proposing to his daughter.

"I think that's a lifelong commitment, that’s big and shouldn’t be taken at all lightly because it is forever in my opinion," her dad told Underwood, according to People. "Too often I think it’s done without enough thought. As far as the hand in marriage, that would be a premature blessing."

So, it wasn't a hard no, but more of a no for now. Still, Underwood was disappointed. It's clear that he wants to take his relationships with the women seriously, and perhaps that's what he wanted to get across with his asking for permission. Either way, Underwood is down to three potential life fiancées, so all that's left to do is wait and see if he really does act on his requests to pop the question.