There’s a reason you don’t see Meghan Markle getting emotional in public very often!
In Tuesday’s episode of her Archetypes podcast with guests Constance Wu, Jenny Slate, and Deepika Padukone, Meghan took the opportunity to discuss the way women are often called “insane” for showing their emotions. And it’s something that’s really affected her in her personal and professional life!
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In the discussion, the Suits alum slammed the way women are often referred to as “nuts, insane, out of [their] mind [and] completely irrational” for showing a little emotion. She then asked her guests to do a show of hands if they’d ever felt labeled in that way, saying:
“Raise your hand if you’ve ever been called crazy or hysterical, or what about nuts, insane, out of your mind, completely irrational? Okay, you get the point. Now, if we were all in the same room and could see each other, I think it would be pretty easy to see just how many of us have our hands up? By the way, me too.”
Meghan then explained why she believes descriptions like “crazy” can be so damaging to women — or anyone struggling with their emotional responses:
“Calling someone ‘crazy’ or ‘hysterical’ completely dismisses their experience and minimizes what they’re feeling.”
The 41-year-old continued:
“It keeps going to the point where anyone who’s been labeled it enough times can be gaslit into thinking that they’re actually unwell or sometimes worse, to the point where real issues of all kinds get ignored. Well, that’s not happening today.”
Fair point! And that’s certainly something she experienced on a grander scale as a woman in the public eye.
Later in the episode, the Duchess of Sussex praised Constance for getting emotional when she began to cry during the interview. Meghan told the Fresh Off the Boat alum:
“The craziest thing in the world would be to keep all of that inside. I think it’s beautiful.”
While she thinks it’s beautiful, it’s not something she allows herself to do much. The actress said she “would love to cry [that] much” — but can’t because of her history:
“I’m conditioned to have a different kind of composure. Now, you sort of [get to] … just relax and let it out.”
Both stars went on to say they wish they could express themselves as freely as their children do, Meghan teased:
“I want to feel so deeply it’s like an Adele album. So much intense emotion. You just get it out and you share it. That’s the peace.”
Hah!! Adele does know how to feel her feelings!
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These comments come just weeks after Meghan was called out on social media for crying during Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral. Some skeptics took to the internet to claim she was just faking her emotions for attention. So you can see why she’s hesitant to let her true colors shine!
But just because she’s staying composed most of the time, it doesn’t mean Meghan isn’t honest about her mental health. Ever since ditching the royal family in 2020, she’s been very candid about the struggles she’s faced in her life, including experiencing suicidal thoughts. During her and Prince Harry’s explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey, the mother of two revealed:
“I just didn’t want to be alive anymore. I knew that if I didn’t say it that I would do it. And that was a very clear and real and frightening constant thought.”
So sad! While Harry was a great support system for her, not everyone in the royal institution was so willing to help her, which definitely adds another complicating factor to how she was “conditioned” to show or not show her emotions — or even made to feel crazier, as she mentioned. It’s definitely something so many women experience, so good for her for tackling it on her podcast. Thoughts?
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