Why I Gave Up Men

A relationship isn’t what Charlize Theron says she needs to make herself feel complete

She’s considered one of the most desirable single women in the world. But Charlize Theron, 44, insists that she’s already found her soulmate(s): her two daughters, Jackson, 8, and August, 5. In a recent interview, the Mad Max:

Fury Road star called the girls “the great loves of my life,” and said that with the two of them by her side, she’s “never been lonely.”

So while Charlize has been linked with some of Hollywood’s hottest actors in the past, she’s removed herself from the dating game, saying that her life is complete without a boyfriend or husband. “I really do believe that women really…make s--- happen for ourselves,” she says. “And I think this idea of relationships, sometimes we approach …or society approach[es] them in the sense of like, ‘Obviously, that is something that you need and want.’ And that’s really not been the case for me.”

FAMILY COMES FIRST

She hasn’t always felt that way. Before breaking up from her longtime boyfriend Stuart Townsend in 2010, Charlize had moved from one serious relationship to the next, remarking that she tended to “lose” herself when she got involved with men. But adopting Jackson and August changed all that. Happily raising the girls with the help of her mom, Gerda Maritz, Charlize has found that she has no need to try out dating apps or ask friends to set her up. “The four of them are a very tight, supportive unit,” says an insider. “It’s the family Charlize created, and she protects it at all costs.”

When Charlize was a child herself, Gerda famously shot and killed Charlize’s father, Charles, in self- defense when he drunkenly threatened to shoot them both. And as traumatic as the experience was, the insider says

it taught Charlize to be as fiercely devoted to her own children as her mother was to her. “It also taught her to be wary of men who aren’t worth her time and effort,” the insider says. “She has no tolerance for b.s. or bad behavior in men.”

Of course, Charlize is also human — and still misses male companionship from time to time. “She loves men,” insists the insider. “She isn’t ruling out romance in her life if it happens organically.” In fact, once her daughters get older and less reliant on her, her search for a partner might resume.

“I don’t feel like I’m missing out on something in my life,” Charlize notes. “It is just not something that I’m looking… for right now.”