Meghan Markle has examined the word “b****” and explained why she thinks it’s been used as a way to insult women.
The 41-year-old duchess discussed the hidden meaning behind certain words in the newest episode of her podcast Archetypes. During her conversation, titled “To B’ or Not to B’?”, she spoke to cosmetics entrepreneur Victoria Jackson and chairwoman of Starbucks Mellody Hobson about how the word “b****”has been “sadly” used to describe certain types of women.
“It’s just one of those labels,” she explained. “That feels like it’s thrown around constantly and while its usage, certainly has undertones that say a lot about the person who’s speaking There’s still a specific type of woman who tends to be the recipient.”
She went on to introduce comedian Robin Thede, who said the word “b****” can be “used to describe a woman who goes after what she wants”. In a voiceover, Meghan further explained why she doesn’t necessarily view the word in the same light.
“What these people are implying when they use that very charged word, is that this woman, ‘Oh she’s difficult,’” Meghan said. “Which is really just a euphemism, or is probably not even a euphemism. It’s really a code word for the b-word.”
Although she praised Thede and other women who have chosen to “reclaim” and “embrace” the “b-word,” Meghan confessed that she would not be doing the same.
“Because as you may have guessed, I have zero interest in reclaiming this term,” she said. “But these women I respect whose work, I love a lot of them are entirely comfortable with that. They want to do that, to take the power out of it.”
The Duchess of Sussex then claimed that it has been used to ultimately hide a woman’s “awesome qualities”.
“Labelling a woman as a ‘b-word’ or as difficult is often a deflection,” she said. “A way to hide some of her really awesome qualities, her persistence or strength or perseverance, her strong opinion, maybe even her resilience.”
Later in the episode, she doubled down on her stance about the “b-word” being used to “insult and dismiss” women and recalled a conversation she had with a friend, in which an “assertive woman” was associated with the term.
“I was talking to a good girlfriend of mine this past weekend and when I saw her, she said something I had never heard before, ‘Well, isn’t that a convenient villain’, an assertive woman in a position of power, being called the b-word? How very convenient,” Meghan continued. “But that’s what happens when we label someone, a woman especially, one of these words. It becomes a way to take their power away.”
After describing how the word has been used to “keep [women] in their place,” the royal continued to discuss how it affects women with successful careers.
“A lot of times it’s tied to the very women who have power and agency, as my friend was suggesting, who aren’t comfortable being silent, like, businesswomen and entrepreneurs,” she added.
This wasn’t Meghan’s first time exploring language and tropes placed on women. During an episode of her podcast that aired on 25 October, she called out the “angry Black woman” trope and noted that there’s a difference between being “difficult” and being “clear”.
“You’re allowed to set a boundary, you’re allowed to be clear,” she said, during her conversation with Issa Rae. “It does not make you demanding, it does not make you difficult. It makes you clear.”
