Of the 75 women Dr. Drexler interviewed, the research psychologist wrote, “No matter how successful they were or how much they had achieved, and no matter how content they were in their own marriages and the families they had formed, they still wanted and in some cases hungered for their fathers’ love and approval.”

... When asked how a fatherless female could seek her non-existent dad’s approval, Dr. Drexler told TheDC, “I believe a maternal and paternal image is hardwired into our unconscious and in that sense primal.