Meghan Markle Shuts Down ‘Angry Black Woman Myth’: ‘Saying What You Need’ Doesn’t Make You ‘Demanding’
Meghan Markle discussed the ‘angry black woman’ stereotype, and said there’s a difference between being ‘difficult’ and ‘clear’, on her ‘Archetypes’ podcast.
Meghan Markle released a new episode of her Spotify podcast Archetypes on Oct. 25, where she discussed the stereotype of the “angry black woman” with actress Issa Rae. The Duchess of Sussex, 41, told the Insecure star, 37, that she’s found herself “cowering and tiptoeing into a room” before out of fear at how she’ll be received as a woman of color.
“I don’t know if you ever do that, the thing that I find the most embarrassing, [is] when you’re saying a sentence and the intonation goes up like it’s a question,” Meghan said. “And you’re like, ‘Oh my God, stop! Stop like whispering and tiptoeing around it.’ Just say what it is that you need.”
Meghan explained that Black women are “allowed to set a boundary” in those situations. “You’re allowed to be clear, it doesn’t make you demanding. It doesn’t make you difficult, it makes you clear,” she added. Meghan also told Issa how she encountered the unfair “angry black woman” stereotype when she was an actress, before she married Prince Harry. “I remember when I was auditioning, the idea of even Black roles, I remember those casting sheets where the description of the character, she always had to have an edge or an attitude,” the former Suits star shared.
Meghan also welcomed comedian Ziwe Fumodoh on the episode and revealed to her that did a genealogy test and learned that she’s 43% Nigerian, much to Ziwe’s excitement. “I’m going to start to dig deeper into all this because anybody that I’ve told, especially Nigerian women, are like ‘What!’ ” Meghan said.
Related Gallery
Meghan Markle Then & Now: Photos Of Star From Hollywood Start To Royal Fairytale Life On 40th Birthday
Meghan’s Archetypes podcast made headlines for last week’s episode that featured Paris Hilton as the guest to discuss the “bimbo” stereotype. Meghan described how she felt like a bimbo when she had a job as a briefcase model on the game show Deal Or No Deal. “I was thankful for the job, but not for how it made me feel, which was not smart,” Meghan said on the episode, noting that she felt “forced to be all looks and little substance” on the show.
Donna Feldman, one of Meghan’s former cast mates on the game show, spoke out against the mother-of-two’s comments after the podcast episode dropped. “I have read Meghan’s comments about being treated like a ‘bimbo’ while working on Deal or No Deal, but I have to disagree with what is being said,” Donna told HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY. “During my time on the show, neither myself nor anybody else I worked with was ever treated as such, in my opinion. However, it’s important to note that everyone has their own experience, and I can only speak from mine.”