Meghan Markle talks mom guilt, 'Stepford Wife' stereotype in 'Archetypes' podcast
Meghan Markle commended Prince Harry for being a 'great' husband and father
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Meghan Markle discussed what it's like to let her "curly hair" down alongside the Canadian prime minister's wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, and not succumb to the pressures of "mom guilt" or stereotypical "Stepford Wife" living, on her latest podcast episode.
Markle discussed the "other version of" she and Trudeau, who have been friends since the Duchess was an actress, shooting "Suits" in Canada. "This wasn't our day of being the wives and moms, all perfectly coiffed with updos, and pearls, and demure smiles. This was the other version of us – both with wild curly hair, and swimsuits, and loose linen, and huge belly laughs."
Speaking of her relationship with the 47-year-old prime minister of Canada's wife, Markle says, "I've gone to her over the years for advice. She knows what it feels like to be a mom and a partner, and specifically a mom and a partner in the public eye. And also how crushing the guilt of expectations can become."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Trudeau echoed her statements, saying, "The guilt that we feel as mothers or as women in general is self-imposed. I think we've learned to self-impose it… A little girl is not born feeling guilty for being a girl, we learn it. And that's completely unacceptable."
Meghan Markle says she and her friend, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, both relate to the "crushing the guilt of expectations." (Chris Wattie/Chris Jackson)
Throughout the podcast, Markle touched on stereotypes of being a woman in the modern era, as well as being a parent, while speaking with actress Pamela Adlon. "Part of the labels that we're talking about," Markle says, "This idea of what it means to be a good mom, or like a Stepford Wife – all of these different archetypes where you feel this pressure to have to be a more or a wife or a partner in a certain way… and then the mom shaming that comes with it, often times… and I think it's so interesting to hear your journey of that."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Adlon, who now has grown children of her own, discussed with Markle the struggles of being a parent.
Markle opened up about how she juggles two young children in the morning – and commends her partner, husband Prince Harry – for helping her get the day started. A partner is a luxury Adlon did not have.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have two children together, Archie, 3, and Lilibet, 1. (Chris Jackson/Getty Images for the Invictus Games Foundation)
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"You know, both monitors on for the kids to hear them, always up with Lili, get her downstairs, then a half hour later Archie's up," Markle says of her routine. "Start doing his lunch box before he's up while I have her, getting her a little nibble. My husband's helping me get him downstairs. I make breakfast for all three of them. It's very important to me. I love doing it," she said.
She clarified to Adlon, "Oh my husband, oh he's great."
Meghan Markle discussed the pressures of being a mother. (Max Mumby/Indigo)
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Later in the episode, Markle shared how becoming a mother to a little girl in Lilibet had changed her. "Now I'm a mom of a daughter and whether I thought it was going to happen or not, it did – I see the world differently through how she's going to see the world and how she's going to look at certain women as role models."
On how she'll raise her daughter, Markle says she will teach her daughter to "be a full-fledged interesting, curious, kind, strong, all the things, human being. But you also get to be a woman with a voice."