Meghan Markle’s Debut Podcast, ‘Archetypes’ Is A New Approach To Women Empowerment

Meghan Markle, The Duchess of Sussex, released the inaugural episode of her podcast on Tuesday. On Archetypes, a Spotify Original, Markle challenges societal gender stereotypes that frequently prevent women from achieving their full potential.

The opening episode delves into the negative stereotypes that women must confront about the double standards women face when labeled “ambitious”. The fast-paced podcast begins with Markle recalling her frustration with an Ivory Clear Dishwashing commercial targeted at women when she was 12-years-old.

The language in the advertisement outraged young Markle, who publicly protested it on Nick News in 1993. Three months later, Procter & Gamble changed the phrase "women to people" in the advertisement.

The ripple effect has stayed with Markle all these years, and she continues to fight against the labels that are placed on women because, "I know a thing or two about labels myself," she said.

The hour-long podcast, which had a refined soundtrack, made it simple for listeners to tune in. Markle, whose voice was clearly made for radio, made listeners feel at ease with her storytelling skills and recaps of how she came to develop Archetypes.

The uncensored episode entitled “The Misconception of Ambition” was nothing short of witty, daring, and captivating. The bravery of speaking about embracing ambition and dissecting the many ways society tries to limit women, were highlights that sparked flames many listeners will find enjoyable.

Serena Williams, tennis superstar and Markle's friend, appears on the season premiere of the podcast. They discussed the criticism women receive when they are called "ambitious" and the negative effects that criticism has on different aspects of their lives.

“If a man is ambitious, that is celebrated. But you look at a woman like yourself , who I think is incredibly ambitious, and that's a testament to who you are as a person,” Markle told Williams.

Williams acknowledges that she had to keep society from influencing her own perspective.

“If a man is ambitious, am I bringing down society by saying a woman is something different than ambitious? Or what do I think of women that are ambitious? Often women are put in these different boxes when we are ambitious, when we have goals or when we reach our goals it's a negative connotation on how we reached them,” Williams said.

Both women, who have experienced public mischaracterization, discussed how those external pressures affected them.

Markle plays a clip of Williams fearlessly speaking as a child; an interviewer asks Williams who she aspires to be like, and her response is that she aspires for others to be like her. Markle then explores how women become less fearless as they age as a result of the tropes that have been placed on them.

“I think that's important that when you're raising a child you don't let them take on your fears," Williams, the mother of a nearly 5-year-old daughter, said. "Fearlessness is super important. I think as you grow with the experience that you get, you think of it as a wound — if you burn yourself, obviously you don't touch the fire again. So you're learning behaviors that make you stop and that give you this healthy fear — because there is a healthy fear, you know, it's not a bad thing. It's just a precaution that we need.”

Act two of the podcast featured Dr. Laura Kray, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business and the faculty director of the university's Center for Equity, Gender, and Leadership, who spoke about her research on how ambitious women are perceived in society and particularly in the workplace. Kray's research puts persistent double standards in context.

Kray explained how research experiments present people with men-versus-women scenarios.

“We see that the identical behavior is rated more negatively when it is a woman than when it is a man. An ambitious woman is deemed power hungry, manipulative and not trusted, whereas an ambitious man is seen as someone to emulate,” Kray said. "He's seen as a role model, a captain of his industry. We see people using these different terms for the identical behavior. So the only explanation is, it boils down to antipathy towards women.”

Markle, the mother of two small children with husband Prince Harry, discusses juggling motherhood and a career, as well as the different expectations for men and women after having children.

“I've felt it. And it's certainly been a big part of Serena's story as well," Markle said. "The focus ends up being on how it looks instead of how it feels and part of the humanizing and the breaking through of these labels that we’re put into, is having some understanding of the human moments behind the scenes that people might not have any awareness of and to give each other a break.”

Williams, who will retire from tennis after the 2022 U.S. Open, discusses how, at 40 years old, her entire existence has been devoted to one goal, and how she is eager to begin a new journey.

“Obviously I'm retiring professionally, but it's also an evolution. I'm doing more business things and I really want to expand my family. I've been putting it off for so long. As a woman, there's only so long you can put that off," she said, adding later: '' I think I've been fortunate enough to play tennis really well, but I think my best is being a mom. I believe I can be really good at that.”

Listeners who want to feel like they know a secret about the women will be enthralled by the human moments that Williams and Markle share.

The fact Williams’ daughter Olympia broke her wrist after falling out of her high chair the night before the 2019 French Open — where she wore her famous black cat suit — is one of the episode's most noteworthy moments. As a result, Williams only got 30 minutes of sleep before the match. Many mothers who have slept poorly at night due to an incident involving their children will be able to relate to the compelling story.

Markle, who is also executive producer of the podcast, closed the episode on a resilient note.

“There’s a misconception that if you're an ambitious woman, you have an agenda, you must be calculating, selfish or aggressive, or a climber, and that if you're that fierce, strong or brave, then you somehow deserve whatever gets thrown at you," she said. "However disproportionate or unfair it may be, even when it's more than most could endure, I still believe being ambitious is a beautiful thing.”

One of the things that I believe will keep listeners returning for future episodes is the vulnerability that Markle will be able to elicit from guests who are frequently regarded as superhuman. Markle did an excellent job making Williams feel at ease on the show. Listeners will expect the same level of energy from future guest appearances.

Although this version of the podcast wasn’t visually recorded, a few visual recaps with notable guests might eventually persuade more listeners to tune in to the conversations in the future.

The conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.