Zoe Saldana And Her Husband Are Creating The Most Beautiful, Gender Fluid Atmospheres For Their Kids
Zoe Saldana-Perego, born Zoe Yadira Saldaña Nazario, is the Dominicana we’ve loved to love since her film debut in “Center Stage” (2000), where she played a Latinx ballet dancer, whose culture defied that of the fictional American Ballet Academy. Since then she’s gone one to star in “Star Trek,” “Avatar,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” and “Colombiana.”
One of her most stunningly beautiful personal accomplishments is how she chooses to raise her kids–without gender norms. Meet Bowie, Cy and Zen.
1. Saldana is married to Italian artist Marco Perego.
Perego is also a rugby player whose nickname is The Pirate because of his long locks, and some interesting art pieces. He actually created a massive gum ball sculpture where instead of gum balls, there were human skulls inside.
2. They secretly got married in June 2013 in London.
Going against traditions, Perego took Saldana’s last name, making him Marco Perego-Saldana, and her Zoe Saldana-Perego. Their kids’ names will be Perego-Saldana.
3. All their kids are bilingual in Spanish and English.
Hubby learned to speak Spanish so that they, as a family, can all speak the language together. Good husband. 🐶
Caption: “Seeds of our Great Tree. Mi manchi tanto 📷 @finnjk”
4. Bowie and Cy are twins.
They were both (obviously) born in 2014. The Perego-Saldanas are a private family, that’s for sure, and Zoe kept her first pregnancy under wraps for the first three months. We’re glad we get to see her beautiful family grow via Instagram.
5. Basically, Zoe is the only woman in the house.
She is surrounded by dudes of all shapes and ages. In an interview with US Magazine, Zoe confessed, “I’m learning a lot about male biology. Boys are insane…but they’re sensitive, too.”
6. There is no male or female role in the house.
Zoe does a lot of the repair work, like setting up the TV, and Marco does some household chores, making for a gender-fluid environment. We could all use a lot more of that.
7. “We’re so of a very gender fluid household. I think it’s important to raise boys in that environment and girls as well.”
Amen, mami. I love that these niños are bringing their wisdom to their schools, and growing up to be people who respect women just as equally as men. We imagine that they’re probably also getting every opportunity to define their own gender since there is no prescription.
8. The only thing prescribed in their household? Fun.
Zoe says her kids have taught her a lot, too. “We’re caught raising and teaching and disciplining and cooking and cleaning and not enough time to play. I think that my kids always remind me when I’m being too boring. They go, ‘Mama, be nice, sit down and play with me.’ That’s what they’re teaching me.”
9. Being a mom can be hella sucio though.
When asked what her grossest moment was Zoe responded, “Oh, you know, when you’re talking to a total stranger and you smell something and look down and are covered in sh*t.”
🙊
10. And a working mom is a whole other ballgame.
Caption: “You do what you have to do to be there…. Haces lo que tienes que hacer para estar ahí. #workingmom#madresquetrabajan”
11. With artists for parents, these kids are already getting down to business.
The Latino household I grew up in was all about following the rules, cleaning up after yourself, and never doing anything that might make the floors dirty, including walking on them on Saturdays.
12. La Cultura is very alive in these ones.
We have a feeling that Bowie and Cy didn’t color these Día de los Muertos masks in, but they’re definitely confused about where their mom went. Same. #BringBackZoe
13. And la abuelita is always your #wcw.
For Zoe at least. Si tengo un elote por cada vez Zoe se pone una #wcw de su mami, I’d be fat af.
14. Oh, and the Saldana-Perego’s also work to end child poverty.
Caption: “We’ve got our #NosesOn… help end child poverty for @RedNoseDayUSA by visiting RedNoseDay.org to learn more + find out how you can help. You can also snag your own Red Nose shirt designed by @victoriabeckham! 🔴🔴🔴”
15. What is an ideal day in the life of Zoe Saldana-Perego?
She told US Magazine, “An ideal day is when the kids wake up happy, they eat all their breakfast, take a nap, everybody poops and pees, they drink water and they go to sleep on time so I can at least have an evening with my husband.”
16. But fame doesn’t make you immune to blowouts.
17. Her proudest moment as a mother is when her kids’ first communicated.
Whether that was with a word, or baby sign language, the moment she was able to communicate with each of her sons was a treasure moment of many to come.
18. All we know, is that these babies are growing up in a mystical new cultura.
And we’re here for it.
Caption: “I thought the earth remembered me, / She took me back so tenderly / Arranging her skirts / Her pockets full of lichens and seeds. / I slept as never before / A stone on the riverbed, / Nothing between me and the white fire of the stars, / But my thoughts. / And they floated light as moths / Among the branches of the perfect trees. / All night I heard the small kingdoms / Breathing around me. / The insects and the birds / Who do their work in darkness. / All night I rose and fell, / As if water, grappling with luminous doom. / By morning I had vanished at least a dozen times / Into something better. / SLEEPING IN THE FOREST By Mary Oliver”
