Emily Ratajkowski.Photo: Eugene Gologursky/Getty
Emily Ratajkowskiis getting real about how she’s approaching parenting.
The model, 30,welcomedher first child, Sylvester “Sly” Apollo, in March with her husband, Sebastian Bear-McClard. Now, the new mom is opening up about motherhood and gender in a conversation with philosopher Amia Srinivasan, published inInterview, Tuesday.
Ratajkowski chatted with Srinivasan about the specific way she’s raising her son, admitting she feels “protective” over her 7-month-old. Ratajkowski recently published a book of essays titledMy Body, and said in the interview that writing connects to her life as a mom.
“This culture that I’m writing about in the book, is very bad for men. There are books about how bad it is for men,” she told Srinivasan. “I see it in my life, the ways that it limits men, and how depressing their existence and their lives can be when they have to adopt this toxic masculinity. So I also feel incredibly protective of him in the same way I would with a daughter, from this culture.”
Ratajkowski said she’s taking in such moments and using them to help inform her own actions with Sly.
“That stuff already bothers me because I can see where it’s leading,” she said. “I don’t have the answers, but the second that I knew I was having a son it came to mind. The best I can do is teach him compassion, and about these power dynamics that men don’t have to inspect in the way that women do, and make him aware of them and make him care about them.”
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty
“I wanted a daughter initially, but when I found out I was having a son, I was so relieved. Because I think that it would bring up — I want more children, so it might be something I deal with later — being sexualized way before puberty and being aware of it,” she toldElle. “I have a memory: I did a sexy move down the wall of my parents' kitchen. I was probably in first grade and my parents were like, ‘Where did you learn that?’ I was like, ‘I fricking learned it. That’s what women do.’ "
Greta Bjornson
source: people.com
