Meghan Markle views herself as a feminist and believes her experiences in life and the Royal Family are relatable to many women.
However, all of these beliefs were pulled into question at the SXSW festival on March 8th, International Women’s Day.
During the event, Markle was set to give a speech alongside Katie Couric and Brooke Shields. The three women were scheduled to talk about the objectification of women and feminism.
The runaway duchess decided to bravely share her own personal experience with sexism: “I was about 11 years old, and I had seen a commercial on TV for a dishwashing liquid that said ‘women all over America are fighting greasy pots and pans. The boys in my class at the time said ‘yeah, that’s where women belong, in the kitchen’,” and at 11, I just found that infuriating. I wrote lots of letters and put pen to paper, and they ended up changing the commercial to ‘people all over America.”
She added: “It’s funny to look back at it now because that was before social media, where you had a reach that was so much greater. It was just an 11-year-old with a pen and paper.”
Meghan Markle then took an inspirational angle and went on to explain how every voice is important in the following statement: “But it just goes to show that if you know that there is something wrong, and you are using your voice to advocate in the direction of what is right, that can really land and resonate and make a huge change for a lot of people. Your voice is not small; it just needs to be heard.”
Afterward, Brooke Shields went on to share her own experiences with objectification. She explained how she played many nude roles as a child and how it degraded her self-esteem in the long run.
The actress expressed ironically: “When I was 11, I was playing a prostitute. I wish I had known you.”
She is referring to when she played the role of the daughter of a prostitute in the controversial 1978 flick entitled Pretty Baby, which has its roots in a true story.
In response to this brutal reality, Meghan Markle forced a smile and made a muffled laughter-like sound. Prince Harry‘s wife seemed uncomfortable and very clearly eager to move on to the next topic.
This leaves many to speculate as to why she did this. Her fans cite the touchy subject. Those who are less fond of her claim that she is not a true feminist and that she lacks real-world experience.
