Game of Thrones star Kit Harington reflects on his ‘gender fluid’ upbringing and the ’emotional blockage’ of toxic masculinity
Kit Harington attending the “Game Of Thrones” season 8 premiere in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/FilmMagic)
Kit Harington has opened up about his “gender fluid” upbringing, revealing he asked his mother for an Action Man but was given a doll instead.
The Game of Thrones star revealed in an interview with the Telegraph that his mother, playwright Deborah Jane Catesby, did not stick to stereotypical gender roles when raising him and his brother John.
Harington reflected on how he “idolised” his mother when growing up, and how she introduced him and his brother to gender politics at a very young age.
“I asked for an Action Man and I got a doll – it was very gender fluid from the word go. And I went with it,” he said.
Kit Harington is done with ‘heroic’ male characters.
The 33-year-old also spoke about his views on toxic masculinity, revealing he doesn’t want to go back to playing stereotypically “heroic” characters, such as his Game of Thrones hero Jon Snow.
“I feel that emotionally men have a problem, a blockage, and that blockage has come from the Second World War, passed down from grandfather to father to so,” he said.
“We do not speak about how we feel because it shows weakness, because it is not masculine
“Having portrayed a man who was silent, who was heroic, I feel going forward that is a role I don’t want to play any more.
“It is not a masculine role that the world needs to see much more of.”
Harington most recently starred in the Netflix show Criminal, and will soon be seen in the Marvel movie Eternals.
In 2018, the Global Early Adolescent Study analysed how gender is learned and reinforced among early adolescents in 15 countries.
According to CNN, its findings showed that culturally enforced gender stereotypes lead to mental and physical health problems in children between the ages of 10 to 14. Girls were found more likely to be exposed to physical and mental violence, withboys found to be subsequently exposed to toxic traits, substance abuse and suicide.
