Ashton Kutcher opens up about how “toxic masculinity” has impacted his parenting styles between his daughter and his son.
During the Thursday, September 5, episode of the “Throwbacks” podcast with cohosts Matt Leinart and Jerry Ferrara, Kutcher, 46, was asked to talk about his experience as a girl dad. (Kutcher shares daughter Wyatt, 9, and son Dimitri, 7, with wife Mila Kunis.)
“I don’t know if it equates to being a girl dad or it equates to her being my first, but when I had my daughter, I had never been so in love in my entire life,” the actor gushed. “And Mila and I talked about it a lot. Like, I’ve never loved anyone this much. Ever.”
Kutcher went on to explain that he parents his son and daughter “differently.”
“My son, I’m always like, ‘Yeah, let’s go for it.’ Like, yesterday we’re popping wheelies on a bicycle in the driveway or it’s like, ‘See if you can jump down four stairs,’” he shared. “[With] my daughter I just want to protect her. When my son cries, I’m like, ‘All right, what did we learn? Let’s move on.’ But when my daughter cries, my heart is out of my body and I can’t put it back in.”
Kutcher did note that there’s probably a ton of “toxic masculinity” that he’s had in his life that has allowed him to treat his son differently than his daughter.
“But I also notice the same thing with my wife, like, she’s very strict on our daughter and, like, a gushball with our son,” he added. “I think we balance each other in that way.”
The couple, who tied the knot in July 2015, welcomed Wyatt in October 2014 followed by Dimitri in November 2016.
Throughout the years, the couple have been candid about raising their two kids while balancing their acting careers.
“For me, the No. 1 role I will ever play is to be a father,” Kutcher told People in February 2023. “It’s the most important role in my life. … My No. 1 job in the world is making better children for the world, and I’m trying my hardest.”
Kunis, for her part, says that she is constantly “stressed out” trying to find a good balance between motherhood and her work life.
“You’re still stressed out and there’s still the idea of the guilt of leaving your kids, but you know that they’ll be OK,” she explained to Entertainment Tonight in October 2021. “Because I’ve already done it once and the kid doesn’t resent me, so I was like, ‘OK, I think I can do this.’ I also need to enlist help. Working full time, my husband has moved his company here, so he works full time. We needed help.”
