‘What’s So Scary About A Woman Having An Opinion As Strongly As A Man Does?’ -Meghan Markle Asks As She Defends Feminism And “Woke” Culture
Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle has spoken candidly about words that are given a negative connotation when used by women.
In the November episode of her Spotify podcast Archetypes, the 41-year-old mother of two defended the widely criticised usage of the word ‘woke’ and ‘feminism’.
In the episode, titled “The Audacity of the Activist,” Meghan spoke about words that become “unnecessarily charged” when it comes to women, giving examples such as “feminism,” which she said is “often treated as taboo as the F-word.”
“I thought a lot about words that become unnecessarily charged as it pertains to women, like feminism, for example, often treated as taboo as the F-word or the word ‘woke’.”
The duchess immediately admitted to stirring up controversy by simply mentioning the word “woke,” but emphasised how the term has been weaponised against women.
Markle added:
“I know I’m saying ‘woke.’ I fully realize I am spoon-feeding the clickbait, but here’s why. Because ‘woke,’ by definition, means alert to injustice in society, especially racism.
“Now, what’s loaded or wrong with that? And when you layer a woman into that seemingly anodyne definition, it becomes for many almost disgusting, ‘outrageous,’ they would say, but why?”
Meghan then asked:
“What is so scary about a woman having an opinion as strongly as a man does? And why do we sometimes cower to that? Turtle, as I often say — go back into the safety of our own shell.”
Markle’s podcast guest, British actress Jameela Jamil, told her that she had “fought back on behalf” of the royal and defended her against “demonization.”
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Jamil, 36, told Meghan:
“It’s just it’s an unfathomable amount of s*** that you take Meghan, I can’t believe it.
“And I fought back on your behalf years before I’d ever met you because I was so outraged with the twisting of this, very normal, very kind, very civilized woman.
“That demonisation just shows how afraid they are of you. And I’m sure maybe you can’t keep this in or whatever, but the treatment of you and, I’m so sorry, you’ve had to withstand, it has re-highlighted for us there is intense unkindness and bigotry and misogyny of our media.
I think and I hope and I feel faith that tides are changing, because so many of us are fighting back.”
And Meghan replied: “Thank you for fighting back.”
At the beginning of the episode, Markle explained how female activists are often looked at with irritation.
Meghan said:
“I started to notice this almost default eye roll when someone would mention a woman fighting for a cause. ‘Why can’t she just sit down and’… you know the rest. The unspoken annoyance that seemed to swirl around women in activism was astounding to me.”
The word “woke” has gained mainstream popularity in recent years, often being used by the political left to refer to progressiveness and social justice.
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However, those on the political right have weaponised the term as a way to poke fun at those who disagree with their beliefs. The term has also become negatively associated with the ever-contentious “cancel culture” debate, as critics of cancel culture blame “woke” ideologies for striking down their favourite politicians, celebrities, or comedians.
Even critics of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have used the word “woke” to negatively describe the royal couple. In 2021, royal biographer Angela Levin said Prince Harry should “back away from being a woke lecturing celebrity.”
This year, Levin also claimed that the duke and duchess were “trying to create an alternative, woke royal family,” and told the Daily Mail that Meghan felt “enormous bitterness” that she wasn’t able to “modernise” the royal family.