Washington: Hollywood star Halle Berry, in a virtual event, spoke about how she’s teaching her son with ex-husband actor Oliver Martinez to respect the power of women. According to E!News, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association hosted a panel titled ‘Women Breaking Barriers: An Industry Shift’ as part of the Sundance Film Festival, which, due to the coronavirus pandemic, is taking place virtually this year.

The event, which was hosted by HFPA members Elisabeth Sereda and Silvia Bizio, featured Berry as well as Andra Day, Robin Wright, Sia and Zendaya in a conversation about how women, and in particular women of colour, are fighting for equality in Hollywood in the wake of major social movements like #MeToo and Black Lives Matter.

During the conversation, Wright pointed out that eventually, she wants women to no longer have to “fight for a position to be heard” and that will only come with education.

As reported by E!News, Berry, who is making her directorial debut with the MMA drama Bruised, which last year screened as a work-in-progress at the Toronto Film Festival and sold to Netflix, spoke about how she’s teaching her son with ex-husband actor Oliver Martinez to respect the power of women.

The Oscar winner explained, “I have a 7-year-old son, and I have realised what my job is in raising him. If we want to have a future that’s different, that is where it starts. You made me think of how many conversations I’ve had with him, say, since he’s turned 5 years old, about the differences in boys and girls, and I see how he’s taught to feel like he’s superior, at 5, than girls are.” Berry added, “I’ve had to really break that down for him and give him a new perspective, and challenge those thoughts and ask him to identify where that comes from, and if he believes that or not and challenge what he’s subconsciously getting from somewhere.”

She further elaborated, “I can tell that because we’re having those conversations he is going to grow as a deep thinker on the subject. He’s going to be determined not to just accept it. I keep challenging him all the time.”