Jennifer Siebel Newsom, wife of California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, detailed her method for dismantling gender stereotypes in children by swapping the genders of book characters.
In a video that went viral online, Newsom revealed she gives boys dolls—allowing them to tear off heads—and emphasizes that caregiving is not reserved exclusively for women but a shared responsibility. “I’ve given our boys dolls,” she laughed, “even if they tear the head off.”
The former California state official explained her approach involves changing every male protagonist in books to female when reading aloud. “What I do with both my daughters and my sons,” Newsom stated, “is if the protagonist is a male, I change ‘he’ to ‘she.’ This normalizes for my sons that women can be the center of a story—women who matter and are interesting.”
Newsom described her goal as helping children become “ultimate humans” by deconstructing rigid gender roles. “At the end of the day,” she said, “we’re all kind of in this place in history where we’re recognizing what it is to ultimately deconstruct all these gender roles and be human.” The video resurfaced as Newsom’s husband continues his campaign for national recognition ahead of a potential 2028 presidential bid.
