James Van Der Beek Says Being a 'Girl Dad' Has Given Him 'Liberation from Limited Belief Systems'

James Van Der Beek has his young daughter to thank for helping him to redefine his ideas of masculinity.

The actor, 45, shared a post on Instagram Friday of his daughter Gwendolyn, 3½, painting his nails light pink. Alongside a shot of his little one partaking in the beauty regimen, Van Der Beek also shared a video of himself cheering on his kid's nail painting skills.

In the caption of his post, the Dawson's Creek star wrote, "#Parenting perk: Surprise liberation from limited belief systems."

Then detailing a time before the birth of his first child when he was working on set with a director who had black nail polish on — which he described as "kind of emo" — Van Der Beek said the individual was questioned about the look, which prompted him to explain, "without an ounce of embarrassment," that his daughter had painted his nails.

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James Van Der Beek/Instagram

As Van Der Beek wrote that he was left "wondering why he hadn't taken it off before working with a crew of people who might judge him," the father of six noted, "Now I get it."

Dave Allocca/StarPix/Shutterstock

"It's one of those things you can't really convey to someone on the brink of having their first child," Van Der Beek continued his caption.

"[It's] the complete ease with which you abandon s— you once thought mattered, (but probably never really did in the first place)… and the simple joy you find in things that baffled you before you became a parent," he continued.

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The proud dad then concluded his post, noting that he plans to rock the nail polish for the foreseeable future.

"If you think I'll be removing this pink nail polish before pouring concrete with a few friends tomorrow… then you probably don't have kids ❤️," he wrote, adding the hashtag, "#GirlDad."

In addition to Gwendolyn, Van Der Beek and his wife Kimberly are parents to Olivia, 11, Joshua, 10, Annabel, 8, Emilia, 6, and Jeremiah, 7 months.