Charlize Theron is working hard to raise two strong daughters who feel empowered to share their voices. However, there’s something she’s noticed along the way as August, 7, and Jackson, 11, have grown up — society sometimes tells girls (and women) that their opinions don’t matter as much.
It’s something that the 47-year-old Oscar winner had to teach herself along the way on her Hollywood journey and rediscover that strength and courage to not talk herself out of getting what she wants. Theron admitted to SheKnows at The Hollywood Reporter‘s Women in Entertainment Gala on Wednesday that she loved being part of the “equal pay conversation” in Hollywood because she “realized the things I was so scared to say are actually not so scary.” She tells SheKnows, “We should just say them because when we do it’s sometimes surprising what can happen.”
She reveals that it was “a lesson” for her in finding the power within herself. “I always tell everybody, ‘Just say it. Don’t be so scared to ask for it, to say it, to talk about it,'” she shares. The School for Good and Evil star isn’t too worried about teaching her daughters that same lesson because they have no problem sharing what’s on their minds. Her job as a mom is to make sure that they keep that sense of power as they get older.
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“It’s strange, little girls come into this world just naturally having that [ability to share their voices], and then we slowly break and kill that. We have to stop doing that,” Theron explains. “They have it.” It’s a crucial point in raising the next generation of female leaders — their opinions are an important part of the conversation.
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