I’ve seen a lot of commentary on Meghan Markle’s podcast lately, so I listened to it myself before forming an opinion. The name “Archetypes” was an interesting choice. Meghan says she will talk about the many ways women are boxed into certain roles and labels.
The podcast begins with the story many of us have heard before: When she wrote a letter to Procter & Gamble about their commercial that said “women are fighting greasy pots and pans.” Three months later, the ad’s wording changed to “people.” This is admirable, but her dramatic reading of the event comes across as fake.
She says she wants to get to the bottom of where these labels come from and how to get rid of them.
The first guest is Serena WIlliams to talk about ambition. Apparently ambition is a word with a negative connotation when referring to women, although I have always seen it as a compliment.
But first, ads. I find it interesting that Meghan doesn’t read the ads as many other podcast hosts do.
She starts by talking about the nuns at a Catholic school she attended taught by feminist nuns. I was confused by this because she had just said who her guest was, and I expected the interview to start.
When we finally get to Serena, we hear a list of compliments and accolades, which are well deserved, no doubt.
But then Harry apparently pops in to say hi. We are almost 12 minutes in when the first question is asked and started to be answered.
Meghan mentions that Serena has to hear untrue mischaracterizations of Meghan. Serena didn’t really get a chance to answer that question until 13:38.
Serena says girls lose confidence after repeatedly being called bossy. I agree about this and try not to use these labels with my children. It’s a delicate balance.
We hear examples of male tennis players being aggressive and being called passionate while Serena was criticized.
The interview then stops while Meghan interviews an expert on Dr. Laura Kray from from the Berkeley Haas School of Business.
Kray says the double standard and different characterizarions between men and women boils down to “antipathy toward women.”
Meghan lavishes Serena with praise during the entire interview, and it starts to get to be too much. It seems Meghan wants to remind us every few minutes how they are such good friends that she knew before everyone that Serena was going to retire. (Calling her Serena/Sirena, her little mermaid.) I enjoyed listened to Serena but wish we could have learned more about her that we otherwise might not have known.
I felt frustrated that Meghan interrupted Serena several times. I wanted to hear more from her guest. Her dramatic reading also was too much for me.
Did you listen to Archetypes, episode 1? What did you think?