Zoe Saldana On Why She's Raising Her Kids In A 'Gender-Fluid Environment'

Zoe Saldana is not here to perpetuate gender roles, especially when it comes to her kids. 

“When you look at parenting, the whole thing about matriarchy and patriarchy, and Daddy’s little girl and Mama’s boys ― my husband and I find that completely ludicrous and absolutely unhealthy for the upbringing of a child,” Saldana told People magazine. 

The “Guardians Of The Galaxy” actress has three sons with her husband, Italian artist Marco Perego-Saldana. Saldana said she believes that when parents adhere to strict gender roles, the kids are the ones who suffer.

“You’re giving them a very distorted and limited view on what a female role is supposed to be in a family and what a male role is supposed to be,” she continued.

Saldana added that she and her husband are “raising our kids in a very gender-fluid environment, where our roles are we swap back and forth” in order to combat gender stereotypes. 

“He’s the bad cop, I’m the good cop and vice versa,” Saldana said. “There’s no such thing as, ‘Mom’s the boss, listen to your mother.’ No, listen to your father as much as your mother because we stand as a unit.”

Since Saldana had her third child in 2016, the actress has been very outspoken about keeping her household gender-fluid. In an interview with Refinery29 last year, Saldana discussed how she avoids gendering her choices for toys and clothes for her sons. 

“We choose it because they need pants, they need shirts, and things like that,” she said. “But if they have a preference of a color or a shape or a person or an animal or a story, we will never choose things for them because of their gender.”

Head over to People to read the full interview.