When it comes to being a man, not everything is about feelings—and not everything should be. Sometimes, it’s about principle. It’s about discipline. And yes, it’s about standards.
Just ask Mark Johnson, a 53-year-old contractor and father of two, who recently made headlines for setting what many see as a controversial rule: no fat chicks under his roof. That’s right—his adult son John, still living at home, started dating a woman named Amanda. The problem? She’s significantly overweight, and Mark isn’t having it.
This isn’t about controlling your grown kids. It’s about leadership. Mark isn’t saying John can’t make his own choices—just that he can’t make them while living off dad’s dime.
“I’m not raising a man just to watch him settle,” Mark told Total Praetorian Network. “He’s living under my roof, eating my food, using my water—and he wants to bring home someone who doesn’t even respect her own body? No.”
To Mark, it’s not about cruelty. It’s about standards. “I have worked too hard to accept mediocrity in my home. I kept myself in shape. I taught my sons to be strong, disciplined, and focused. I’m not going to sit back and pretend that physical health doesn’t matter just because we live in a society that’s scared to hurt feelings.”
And let’s be honest—this isn’t just about body fat. It’s about complacency. It’s about the culture of “accept me as I am” instead of “let me rise to meet the standard.” And Mark isn’t alone. More and more fathers are speaking out, not to shame, but to remind the next generation that respect starts with self-respect—and that includes your body.
John, for his part, sees it differently. He likes Amanda. He claims she’s sweet, funny, and treats him well. But to Mark, that’s not enough. “Being nice isn’t a qualification for partnership,” he says. “If she really cared about him, she’d be in the gym. She’d be eating clean. You don’t love someone by enabling weakness—you love someone by encouraging strength.”
It’s not about hating fat people. It’s about rejecting a mindset that normalizes laziness and emotional eating while demonizing discipline and high standards. Marcus Cole adds: “If you’re not allowed to have boundaries in your own house, you’re not a man—you’re a doormat.”
This isn’t about controlling your grown kids. It’s about leadership. Mark isn’t saying John can’t make his own choices—just that he can’t make them while living off dad’s dime. And that’s fair. Because adulthood comes with choices—and consequences. You don’t get to live like a child and demand the privileges of a man.
So whether you agree with Mark’s rule or not, one thing’s clear: standards matter. A man without them is a man drifting. And in today’s world of softened lines and blurred values, sometimes the boldest thing a father can do is draw a hard one.
