Transformers star Megan Fox was accused last month of forcing her three young sons to wear girls’ clothes. Former Republican congressional candidate Robby Starbuck claimed that Megan’s kids were “forced by their mom to wear girl clothes as their nanny tried to console them. It’s pure child abuse.” Fox then blasted Starbuck on Instagram for using “children as leverage or social currency”:
Exploiting my child’s gender identity to gain attention in your political campaign has put you on the wrong side of the universe. I have been burned at the stake by insecure narcissistic impotent little men like you many times. And yet [I’m] still here.
Fox has since deleted the post.
The mom of three has always encouraged gender fluidity among her sons, which she’s been happy to discuss with the media even though, for privacy reasons, she doesn’t post photos of her children online. Her oldest, Noah (age ten), started wearing dresses when he was two, the star told Glamour last year. Fox bought him books addressing the gender spectrum and transsexuality, principles she incorporates into her family’s daily life, “so that nobody feels like they are weird or strange or different.” She spoke to InStyle in 2021 about protecting Noah from “little kids at his own school who are like, ‘Boys don’t wear dresses.'” When she became pregnant with Noah, Fox surmised through “mother’s intuition” that he would not subscribe to gender stereotypes.
It certainly seems, however, that Fox stood to gain social currency from all the publicity her child’s gender identity drummed up.
The race to be the most culture-forward celebrity is best seen in the exploitation of children’s real or supposed confusion about gender. Fox isn’t the only Hollywood star to go down that road: Charlize Theron’s adopted son “realized” he was a girl at three years old, and Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have addressed their daughter, Shiloh, with male pronouns since she was two years old.
Celebrity children are labeled as Hollywood’s youngest LGBTQ+ icons before they understand much of anything about sexuality and gender. They’re most definitely not old enough to consent to being the subject of glossy-magazine stories about their “gender identity.” This is a sensitive, difficult topic no matter which side of the debate you’re on.