Eva Longoria Is Raising Her Son to Be a Feminist
Eva Longoria is known for being an actor, but she also has important roles as a mother and entrepreneur. The former Desperate Housewives star discussed motherhood and career and how she makes time for both.
Eva Longoria wants to raise a feminist son
Longoria says she wants to raise her son as a feminist. During her podcast, Connections with Eva Longoria, which is part of iHeartMedia’s My Cultura Network, she describes what she felt after she discovered she was going to have a boy.
Longoria says when she found out she was going to have a boy, she thought to herself that she would have preferred to have a girl so she could raise her to be a feminist. However, Longoria later realized she could still raise a boy to be a feminist.
“Everybody is always asking me what I want to teach my son, [Santi],” says Longoria. “I can’t really tell him things – I have to show him things. I remember when I found out I was having a boy I thought, ‘Aww I wanted a feminist girl.’ A friend of mine told me how much we need more male feminists in this world and that my job is even more important raising a son, to make sure he grows up to realize how much women should be valued.”
Longoria says she wants to be a good example for her son. She plans to do this by showing him the importance of hard work. “I have carried that flag and torch–I am going to raise a feminist son and show him my charity work and show him how hard I work.”
Eva Longoria prioritizes time with her son
Longoria says time with her son is important to her. She makes sure to set enough time aside to be with him.
“I always keep my promise — that’s what I do to balance [motherhood and work],” says Longoria. “‘Mommy has to work and then we are going to go swimming and then we are going to have lunch.’ I don’t falter with that – you can be late, but I keep my word. If Saturday is our day, make sure it is their day.”
Longoria says she is happy that she became a mother later in life. She is able to choose how and when she works.
“Before I had a baby, people used to ask me, ‘How do you do so much?’ I would say, ‘It is because I don’t have children!’ I did so much in my career before I even had Santi. I got financially stable, so I get to be really picky now with my work. I know that is not the case for many women, so I am super grateful for being an old mom!”
Eva Longoria says self-care is important as a working mom
Although work and family are important to Longoria, she also believes self-care should be a priority. During an interview with The Cut, she talks about taking a moment to slow down and look after herself.
“Self-care to me I think is probably the most difficult for women to do because by nature, we are the caretakers of our children, caretakers of the elderly,” Longoria tells The Cut. “We’re the CEOs of our family, we’re making the financial decisions, the educational decisions, the healthcare decisions, we’re the human taxi. It is hard to step back and do that.”
Longoria says self-care doesn’t have to mean an expensive trip. It could be something simple. “I also think, for me, self-care isn’t a trip to Caboo. It doesn’t have to be huge, for me. I love taking a bubble bath. How you talk to yourself is a form of self-care as well.”
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