For the first time, the Duchess of Sussex invited male guests onto her weekly Spotify podcast, admitting her husband had suggested she broaden the scope of her previously all-female guests.
She particularly noted the significance of gender stereotypes “that keep us really limited,” using the examples: women are “weak, emotional or oversensitive” and men are “overbearing and dominant”.
The Duchess continued: “I think it’s a really valuable image that both genders can use to wake up out of the limitations of the stereotypes and to move forward in our world, in a way, that’s both compassionate and strong.
“And I think if we are able to shed some light, not just on the history of these stereotypes and the lived experience of the women boxed in with them, but the understanding of how we can move away from them, then it has to be larger.
“…There’s more of this population that probably needs to be involved in the same conversation. I’m talking about men and I thought for this final episode, wouldn’t it be interesting to sit with some men?”
The latest episode of Meghan’s podcast was released on Tuesday (Image: Getty Images)
The Duchess of Sussex sat down with men to talk about their part in the cultural conversation (Image: Spotify)
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Meghan explained that she wanted to hear men’s thoughts on the archetypes, first including impressions from men across the world who have listened to previous episodes of the podcast.
One listener said his biggest takeaway was “really understanding and appreciating the history of words,” while another confessed to realising his role in reinforcing some of the stereotypes.
Then, Meghan introduced her latest guests, admitting her husband Prince Harry had been the influence behind her decision to widen the conversation.
She said: “Now, if you’ve been listening to the past eleven episodes, you may have noticed that you haven’t heard many men’s voices, in fact, until now outside of a quick pop-in from my husband, in the first episode, this show has featured exclusively women’s voices.
“And that’s by design, it was important to us that women have a space to share their authentic and complicated complex and dynamic experiences to be heard and to be understood.
“But through that process, it also occurred to me and, truth be told, at the suggestion of my husband that if we really want to shift how we think about gender and the limiting labels that we separate people into, then we have to broaden the conversation.”
Meghan was encouraged by her husband Prince Harry (Image: Getty)
This episode marks Meghan’s twelfth and final instalment of Archetypes; the podcast first launched in August when she sat down with her friend and tennis pro Serena Williams.
In the months that have followed, the Duchess has spoken with the likes of pop star Mariah Carey, TV personality Paris Hilton and the First Lady of Canada, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau. Through open and thought-provoking conversations, she has tackled issues such as the myth of the ‘angry black woman’, the use of the word ‘crazy’ to diminish women’s credibility and the societal pressure to be a good wife and mother.
Following the first episode, Archetypes hit the number-one spot on Spotify’s charts in six worldwide markets — including the US and the UK. While the podcast has since dropped in the charts, it is still considered a great success and has attracted millions of listeners globally.
This is the twelfth and final episode of Archetypes (Image: Spotify)
Fast-forward to now and royal watchers are eagerly awaiting Sussex content on Netflix, with which they also signed a lucrative deal in September 2020. An at-home style documentary series is expected to be released early next month.
While Harry and Meghan have kept the content largely under wraps, the Duchess has given some insight into what viewers can expect. In an interview with Variety magazine in October, Meghan was asked: “What can we expect from Liz Garbus’ docuseries on you and your husband?”
She responded: “It’s nice to be able to trust someone with our story — a seasoned director whose work I’ve long admired — even if it means it may not be the way we would have told it. But that’s not why we’re telling it. We’re trusting our story to someone else, and that means it will go through their lens.”
In her interview with The Cut in August, the Duchess hinted that she and Harry may give a glimpse into her and Harry’s “love story” in the long-awaited series.
It was the first released project from the Sussexes since their one-off holiday special podcast episode in December 2020. The couple signed their multi-million-pound deal with the streaming service in September of that year and were expected to host and produce podcasts under the production branch of Archewell.
Source: EXPRESS CO UK
