Halle Berry is fighting sexism by teaching her son Maceo Martinez, 7, to break gender stereotypes.
On Jan. 30, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association hosted a panel titled “Women Breaking Barriers: An Industry Shift” as part of the Sundance Film Festival, which, due to the coronavirus pandemic, is taking place virtually this year. The event, which was hosted by HFPA members Elisabeth Sereda and Silvia Bizio, featured Berry as well as Andra Day, Robin Wright, Sia and Zendaya in a conversation about how women, and in particular women of color, are fighting for equality in Hollywood in the wake of major social movements like #MeToo and Black Lives Matter.
During the conversation, Wright pointed out that eventually, she wants women to no longer have to “fight for a position to be heard,” and that will only come with education.
As Wright explained, “[Men] have to shift their perspective. And that they have to shift their psyche. It’s what they’ve only known. What a great opportunity for the new generation, the children of today, to be able to educate them when they’re 3, 4, 5 years old. To teach them something new. Not the way we grew up.”
Berry, who is making her directorial debut with the MMA drama Bruised, which last year screened as a work-in-progress at the Toronto Film Festival and sold to Netflix, spoke about how she’s teaching her son with ex-husband actor Oliver Martinez to respect the power of women.
