After decades of fighting for equal rights and acceptance, people on the LGBTQ+ spectrum and those who don't conform to traditional gender stereotypes are becoming more and more accepted every day. While the LGBTQ community still doesn't enjoy solid rights in the eyes of the U.S. government (for example, many states restrict gender-affirming healthcare), families are making efforts to raise their children in a gender-nonconforming way, prioritizing their children's well-being and individual identity rather than forcing them to conform.
One sign that attitudes about gender identity are becoming more flexible is that celebrity parents are speaking out about raising their kids outside the confines of a typical gender binary, which means focusing on raising them without rigid expectations around an assigned gender. While there are tons of outside factors that can influence a child's gender experience and are hard to escape (i.e. the whole internet), A-list parents are defending modern parenting by letting their kids be who they are.
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And for good reason: Raising children in a gender-free home has numerous benefits, including encouraging confident self-expression, fostering empathy, and promoting inclusivity among peers.
Below, you'll find celebrity parents who are setting the standard for gender-neutral parenting. If any of these parenting philosophies resonate with you, consider using their gender-inclusive ideas as a guide when raising your own kids beyond traditional societal expectations.
Zoe Saldana
As a mother of three sons, Zoe Saldana is teaching her kids to embrace their feminine side more. From encouraging them to tap into their emotions to helping them understand how to express and control them, Saldana and her husband are focused on creating a safe environment where their boys can embrace all of their complex emotions. While Saldana's focus on femininity still falls along one side of the gender identity spectrum, her overall goal is to nurture all aspects of her sons' personalities, especially those that may not conform to gender stereotypes.
“When we think about parenting, my husband and I think this idea of matriarchy and patriarchy and daddy's girls and mommy's boys is completely ridiculous and absolutely unhealthy way to raise children,” Saldana told People magazine.
Kate Hudson
In an interview with AOL, Kate Hudson revealed that she's taking a “genderless” approach to raising her daughter, Lani. Hudson went on to explain that she's raising her daughter this way because she “still doesn't know how she identifies” when it comes to gender identity.
After receiving criticism for sharing her thoughts on parenting in an interview, Hudson clarified her position on social media, writing, “Not all little girls want to be princesses, some want to be kings and that's OK. I'm just trying to raise my kids to be good people with the best tools to take on this big, crazy world.”
Beyoncé
Beyoncé's household emphasizes values like empowerment, independence and sensitivity. The global superstar revealed in a 2018 Vogue article that she encourages her daughters to realize that they “can write their own scripts of their own lives, as CEOs, as bosses, they can have their own opinions, and there are no limitations. You don't have to be a certain type, you don't have to fit into a certain category.”
She feels the same way about raising her son, explaining that he is being raised “to know that you can be strong and brave, but you can also be sensitive and kind.”
She also added that she wants to teach her children to ignore what the internet has to say, and that they are free to “love who they want to love.”
Megan Fox
As a mother of three boys, Megan Fox makes sure her kids stay true to their own style and aesthetic, no matter what society has to say about what boys should look like. After her sons started wearing dresses at age two, Fox embraced fully gender-neutral parenting and bought them various books about what self-expression looks like and what it means.
“Some of the books are written by trans kids. Others are about how boys can wear dresses and express themselves however they want through their clothing,” she said in an interview with Glamour magazine.
“Since my kids were little, I've incorporated those things into their daily lives so that no one feels like they're weird or odd or different,” she added.
pink
“We are a label-free family,” Pink told People magazine in 2018. She added, “Being gender neutral is a label in itself, and I feel like I have no labels,” she told People. “I don't like labels at all, and I believe that women and girls can do anything.”
She is raising her children to understand that they can ignore the very real stereotypes and societal roles that exist regarding sex and gender.
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie has long been recognized for adopting a gender-neutral approach to parenting. After her daughter Shiloh began experimenting with gender expression in 2010, Jolie revealed in an interview with Vanity Fair that she fully supported her daughter's individualism.
Not only did she support Shiloh by letting her choose to keep her hair short, but she also bought her the clothes her daughter felt most comfortable in. In 2014, Shiloh temporarily adopted a new name, “John,” and began wearing suits and slacks.
Olivia Wilde
Mother of two Olivia Wilde refuses to let her kids grow up with society's gender expectations. In an essay for NBC News, the actress and director wrote, “I'm really careful that my kids don't see themselves as being in binary categories. I think that's a parent's job, but I didn't really realize that before I had kids.”
She also talks to her kids about gender equality because those conversations “can lay the foundation that will influence how they handle societal pressures for years to come.” In the same essay, she also mentions that she's raising her kids to embrace feminism.
In fact, in 2018, she told People magazine that she was raising her kids without gender stereotypes. “I just… [her daughter] Without self-imposed limitations, the world would do whatever it wanted.”
Gwen Stefani
A-list singer Gwen Stefani doesn't mind her sons painting their nails and wearing tutus, and she doesn't think you should either. In her household, self-expression is encouraged regardless of sex or gender, and as she told PrideSource, the only thing she really cares about is that her sons don't try to be who they are.
“What I'm trying to say is that being unique and original makes me happy, and I think that's contagious to kids,” she said.
Amber Rose
Amber Rose isn't going to let haters get in the way of her son expressing himself the way he wants to. In 2016, Rose fought back against a slew of negative comments after taking her son for a manicure and pedicure. At the time, she said society should encourage artistic self-expression just as it encourages painting and drawing. In a since-deleted Instagram post, Rose wrote, “Fuck society's standards and gender roles! Raise your kids to be amazing people!”
