How Emily Ratajkowski Will 'Protect' Her Son From 'Toxic Masculinity Culture'

Fans who are familiar with Ratajkowski's essay book and the sensitive topics it covers know that the supermodel has examined "toxic masculinity" culture from a professional and personal stance within its pages. Discussing the concept with Interview from a mother's perspective, she said she wanted to shield her son from it, just as she would a daughter.

"I also think that 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. 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," said Ratajkowski.

The mother-of-one added: "So I also feel incredibly protective of him in the same way I would with a daughter, from this culture."

Delving deeper into how she plans to protect her son from "toxic masculinity," Ratajkowski admitted: "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," she told Srinivasan. "How’s that going to happen? I’m not entirely sure."

Below are a few snaps of Ratajkowski and baby Sly taken for the magazine. The baby's father and Ratajkowski's husband, independent movie producer Sebastian Bear-McClard, is also featured and can be seen in the background of the first pic.

While Ratajkowski couldn't wait to share the joyful news that she was expecting, taking to Instagram to announce she'd become a mom three days after the fact, she and her husband held off on revealing the baby's gender until he was born.

In an essay for Vogue back in October 2020, the model explained their choice as she officially confirmed the pregnancy.

"When my husband and I tell friends that I’m pregnant, their first question after ‘Congratulations’ is almost always ‘Do you know what you want?’ We like to respond that we won’t know the gender until our child is 18 and that they’ll let us know then,” she wrote.

Ratajkowski would later go on to tell Elle that, despite initially wanting a daughter, she was "relieved" she had a son because having a little girl would invite in "being sexualized way before puberty" -- something Ratajkowski is familiar with all too well, as she details in her book.

Speaking to Interview about babies' "genderless quality," Ratajkowski confessed people treat Sly differently because he's a boy.

"My son, babies, have this genderless quality to them, and so I love affording that to him right now. I’ve just been treating him as this wonderful little human who’s being introduced to the world," she said.

Ratajkowski continued: "Actually, I noticed that as soon as people know that he’s a boy, the way that they interact with him is different than they would have with a baby girl."

Expressing her "frustration" with the fact, the new mom remarked: "I think there’s even a tendency to throw a little boy in the air, be a little bit rougher with them than you would a little girl. That stuff already bothers me because I can see where it’s leading."