Emily Ratajkowski reveals she bought her one-year-old son a baby doll to ‘balance’ interest in gendered toys

‘It makes me so sad thinking about somebody trying to toughen them up, you know,’ the model said about her and Julia Fox’s one-year-old sons

Emily Ratajkowski has revealed that she bought her one-year-old son, Sylvester, some new toys, in order to “balance out” his strong interest in toy trucks.

The 31-year-old model opened up about her life as a single mother, following her recent divorce from her son’s father, Sebastian Bear-McClard, in her newest episode of her podcast, High Low with EmRata.

During the episode, guest Julia Fox, who shares her one-year-old son Valentino with ex Peter Artemiev, said that she doesn’t want her child to “end up like every single guy [she’s] ever met” and that she wants that “conditioning to stop occurring”. In response, Ratajkowski brought up her child’s love for toy trucks and how she’s trying to expand his interests beyond that.

“He gets so excited, he loves to play with things with wheels,” she explained. “And I’m like, I’m not kidding, this morning I ordered him a baby doll and a tea set. Cause I’m like, ‘we gotta balance this out.’ But also, is this just what he likes, naturally?”

After Fox shared that her son has a “pink stroller” that he enjoys to push around, Ratajkowski added that Sylvester also has a “pink convertible”.

She then questioned if giving her son these toys, which are often made for girls, will help him avoid societal stereotypes regarding how a man should behave.

“I’m like, are those the little ways you can start making sure the conditioning doesn’t happen?” Ratajkowski asked. “And spending a lot of time around women.”

The Gone Girl star went on to acknowledge her concerns about her and Fox’s sons being pressured by their peers to act a certain way.

“It makes me so sad thinking about somebody trying to toughen them up, you know?” she added.

Ratajkowski welcomed Sylvester in March 2021 with Bear-McClard. The model officially filed for divorce from the producer in September, following reports that he allegedly cheated on her.

Earlier this month, she appeared on Today to discuss how she’s embraced being single, as she has continued to prioritise her son.

“It’s so nice, honestly,” she said. “I don’t owe anything to anybody, other than my son, that’s the only man.”

The actor went on to explain how she’s also been focused on herself, adding: “I’m 31 and I have a little one and I have this career and I’m just doing my own thing.”

Last month, Ratajkowski also noted that while she’s had a range of feelings throughout her divorce, but said that she knows she’ll “be okay”.

“I feel all the emotions,” she said, during an interview with Harper’s Bazaar. “I feel anger, sadness. I feel excitement. I feel joy. I feel levity. Every day is different. The only good thing I know is that I’m feeling all those things, which is nice because it makes me believe that I’ll be okay.”