Halle Berry Has Been Talking about Gender with Son Maceo Martinez since He Was 5 — Here's Why

While speaking during a virtual panel, actress Halle Berry revealed she continually talks to her seven-year-old son about gender stereotypes.

Award-winning actress Halle Berry took part in a virtual panel hosted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as part of the Sundance Film Festival. The panel was titled "Women Breaking Barriers: An Industry Shift."

Besides Berry, other women in attendance included HFPA members Elizabeth Sereda and Silvia Bizio. Others include Andra Day, Sia, Zendaya, and Robin Wright.

While speaking during the panel, Berry opened up about being a mother to her seven-year-old son, Maceo Martinez, saying she has realized what her job is in bringing him up as a child.

Berry said that if the world wants to have a different future, it should start from how parents raise their children. She revealed she has had many conversations with her son since he turned five years old.

These conversations bordered on the differences between boys and girls. From such discussions with Maceo, Berry discovered how her son, even at five, was taught to feel like he is superior to girls.

The "Monster's Ball" actress said she had to break things down for Maceo and give him a new perspective about boys and girls. She also asked him to challenge such thoughts, identify where they come from, and question what he is subconsciously feeling.

Instead of getting mad at the trolls, Berry reminded them that Maceo was trying to have a ball.

From those conversations, the 54-year-old can tell that Maceo is growing up as a deep thinker on the gender subject and is determined not just to accept it, adding that she challenges him all the time on gender stereotypes.

Besides just talking to her son about gender stereotypes, Berry is also backing it up with actions, as she showed in April last year when she came to Maceo's defense when a critic shamed him for wearing heels.

Some internet trolls questioned the actress for allowing her son to wear heels after she shared a video of the then-6-year-old Maceo attempting to walk upstairs in heels.

While many people admired the video and commented with laughing emojis, some trolls wondered why the actress would allow her son to do such.

Instead of getting mad at the trolls, Berry reminded them that Maceo was trying to have a ball and cope the best way he can, adding that laughter has helped people with the pandemic situation. She advised the trolls to have a laugh and some compassion.

Besides Maceo, who Berry shares with her ex, Olivier Martinez, she also has an older daughter, Nahla, 12, who she shares with another ex, Gabriel Aubry.

The loving mom describes her children as her most treasured achievements, and given the way she talks about them, no one can argue with that.