Archetypes podcast: Meghan says ‘women are sexually vilified’ and often ‘sl*t shamed’

The Duchess of Sussex was joined by Michaela Jaé Rodriguez and Candace Bushell for the Spotify interview
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William Mata22 November 2022

Meghan Markle has said female sexuality “is so much more vilified” than men's in the latest episode of her Archetypes podcast.

For the Spotify series, the Duchess of Sussex told trans actress and singer Michaela Jaé Rodriguez that she is concerned of how women in their 50s can be targeted by gossip about how they were “a slut in college”.

During the chat about her teenage years, the Duchess said: “As you're getting older, you're exploring and starting to understand your sensuality, your feminine divine.

“But your sexuality can be very much used against you... [a man] is a player or out having fun or whatever he's doing, it's often celebrated, even heralded.

“But for a woman, I don't care if she is perhaps the most successful woman in finance in her mid-50s I promise you someone will still come and say ‘yeah, but she was such a sl*t in college’.

“It will stick with her. I don't understand what it is about the stigma surrounding women and their sexuality, the exploration of their sexuality that is so much more vilified than for a man and I wonder what that experience.”

She also told Rodriguez about her relationship with her mother Doria Ragland - who she said still calls her ‘Flower’ despite Meghan being 41.

The Duchess has now released 11 episodes of the series and also chatted with Sex and the City author Candace Bushell on the latest installment, Beyond the Archetype: Human, Being.

Meghan was full of praise for the hit television sitcom, calling Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte “iconic” characters.

"It still feels boundless today,” she said of the writing. “And in her recent novel and one woman show Is There Still Sex In The City? she continues to peel back the layers of what women can be in all stages of life."

Bushell said that she did not earn "a tonne of money" from Sex And The City, adding she felt “angry” when considering what the show went onto achieve.

"That's one of the realities,” Bushell said. “The fact of the matter is, you know, I'm fine, I'm OK, I'm doing OK, so I just keep working."

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