Halle Berry isn't afraid to confront sexist stereotypes head-on with her seven-year-old son.
Last weekend, the actress talked about challenging her son's subconscious beliefs about gender in Women Breaking Barriers: An Industry Shift, a virtual panel hosted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for the Sundance Film Festival. Also present during the conversation were Zendaya, Robin Wright, Sia, and Andra Day.
"I have a seven-year-old son, and I have realized what my job is in raising him. If we want to have a future that's different, that is where it starts," she said of her son, Maceo Martinez, per People.
She continued, sharing that she has already noticed the way her son's views on gender are being implicitly shaped. "You made me think of how many conversations I've had with him, say, since he's turned five years old, about the differences in boys and girls, and I see how he's taught to feel like he's superior, at five, than girls are," said Berry.
"I've had to really break that down for him and give him a new perspective, and challenge those thoughts and ask him to identify where that comes from, and if he believes that or not and challenge what he's subconsciously getting from somewhere," she continued. "I can tell that because we're having those conversations he is going to grow as a deep thinker on the subject. He's going to be determined not to just accept it. I keep challenging him all the time, like 'Well, why is that a 'girl color?'"
Berry makes her U.S. directorial debut with Bruised at this year's Sundance Film Festival.
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