A dad of five daughters has created a set of feminist 'rules' for dating his girls.

We’ve seen the movies and read the books.

You know, the ones where the overprotective father suddenly realises his little girls are growing up and want to start dating.

The ones where a pimply, nervous teenage boy rings the doorbell of his date’s home, only to be greeted by an angry, overbearing father asking them about their intentions.

And possibly holding a shotgun.

It's a tale that is as old and tired as teaching young girls that the only way to true and lasting happiness is to find their 'Prince Charming', and we're getting pretty sick of it.

Thankfully, writer J. Warren Welch - a man busy raising five daughters - is sick of it too. That's why he shared is own set of 'rules' for the future dates of his girls.

Welch's first rule for dating his daughters? "You'll have to ask them what their rules are."

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"I'm not raising my little girls to be the kind of women who need their daddy to act like a creepy, possessive badass in order for them to be treated with respect," he wrote on Facebook and Instagram.

"You will respect them, and if you don't, I promise they won't need my help putting you back in your place. Good luck pumpkin."

The father of five - two 16-year-old daughters, a 13-year-old, a 12-year-old and a 7-year-old - seems to have struck a cord with his wise words, which have since been shared more than 23,000 times online.

Happy sweet 16 Jade!!!! I have no doubt the world is going to be a better place because you are in it. I don't think I can take much credit for that, but you'll never know how proud I am to be your dad. I love you daughter!

A post shared by Jeff Welch (@j.warren.welch) on Aug 13, 2017 at 11:24am PDT

Speaking to TODAY, Welch said he can completely understand the urge some father's wanting to protect their daughters. But he wanted to make a point.

"The kind of posturing by fathers of daughters I was specifically responding to had nothing to do with that 'protective instinct' and everything to do with asserting their dominance over women and reinforcing a belief that women need men to take care of them," he said.

"I was a feminist long before I had daughters, but it wasn't until I was blessed with the task of raising young women that I realised why," he said.

"These girls are amazing humans, and I can take no credit for that other than the fact that I at least knew that the best thing I could do for them is not try to 'mold' them."

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