Sophie Grégoire Trudeau Shares How She's Raising Her Sons In A World With Toxic Masculinity
"It starts in the home because what happens in the home is brought out into our streets."
Sophie Grégoire Trudeau and Justin Trudeau with their kids. Right: Grégoire Trudeau's sons Xavier and Hadrien hugging.
Sophie Grégoire Trudeau has shared how she's raising her sons in a world where toxic masculinity exists and what needs to be done to address the problems that women and girls face.
During an Instagram Live on March 8, 2023, she spoke with gender equality advocate Ziyana Kotadia to celebrate International Women's Day and gave insight into her family dynamic.
"I'm raising two boys. I'm raising boys, and I see them as wonderful creatures with the same potential and creativity as my girl," Grégoire Trudeau said.
Her children are Xavier, who's turning 16 years old this year, 14-year-old Ella-Grace and 9-year-old Hadrien.
Grégoire Trudeau also said that while she's raising her sons to have just as much potential and creativity as her daughter, toxic masculinity still needs to be addressed.
"I think that if we don't talk about the toxic masculinity and principles and cultures that our boys are living in, we won't be able to address the true root causes of the problem that girls and women face in our society," she noted.
When asked what needs to be done to further gender equality in the world, Grégoire Trudeau went into depth about the importance of family.
"I think everything starts at home, and obviously home is where culture lives," she said. "It starts there, in the nucleus of the family, and knowing that women are still the nucleus of the family, still making the most important decisions when it comes to family finances or decisions in the daily lives."
"How does your father talk to your mother? How does your father talk about women in general?"
Grégoire Trudeau also raised the question of if there are boys in your family, do they have more privileges than girls, and is everybody treated equally?
"It starts in the home because what happens in the home is brought out into our streets, into our schools, into our institutions," she said.
For International Women's Day in 2021, Grégoire Trudeau joined her husband, Justin Trudeau, to make a video celebrating the day.
She said that they're "not afraid" to label themselves as feminists, and he said more needs to be done for feminism in Canada.
Grégoire Trudeau also shared that "as a couple and as parents," they make sure each of their kids knows that nobody is more important than anybody else.