Meghan Markle has spoken out about the criticism she has received for her Netflix show, With Love, Meghan, as the second season of the programme launched on Tuesday, August 26.
Meghan was forced to defend the fact that her show doesn’t glorify traditional gender roles(Image: getty)
Meghan Markle has hit back at accusations that her latest Netflix show promoted the ‘tradwife’ labelling. The second series of With Love, Meghan launched today on the streaming platform, Tuesday August 26.
The Duchess of Sussex has candidly opened up on The Circuit podcast with Emily Chang about the mixed reactions she faced following the first series.
Emily challenged Meghan over criticism that her lifestyle programme, which features the Duchess sharing culinary, crafting, and entertaining advice alongside pals and specialists, is fuelling the ‘tradwife’ movement, as reported by the Mirror.
The Tradwife is often when women embrace conventional gender expectations, such as cooking and housework, as typical roles in their marriage. It comes after Meghan revealed who actually declared ‘I love you’ first during her romance with Prince Harry.
The podcast presenter informed the Duchess: “There’s this take that you’re glorifying homemaking or glorifying trad wives,” prompting Meghan to reply: “Really? That feels odd to me. I hadn’t heard that.”
Meghan hit back at ‘trad wife’ claims in a new interview(Image: Netflix)
She continued: “But I am really unapologetic about the fact that… would it be lovely to go and churn your own butter? Sure, maybe, but I don’t have time for that. And I don’t think you get an extra gold star if you do that.
“So for me, it’s more about how you show up thoughtfully. I don’t have time to make dinner every night, I wish I did, but I’m great at ordering takeout and plating it beautifully.
“I have absolutely no judgement on trad wives, if it works for them then they should do it. But for me I feel like there is an in between, and joy for me comes from finding that sweet spot in the middle.”
The term ‘Tradwife’ has gained a lot of attention across social media platforms lately, as a label for women who believe in and follow conventional gender roles within marriage.
Some females adopt a homemaking position in their relationship, while others leave their professional lives behind to concentrate on fulfilling the daily chores of the household.
Following the debut of With Love, Meghan’s first series broadcast earlier this year, the programme gained mixed feedback with numerous reviewers suggesting the show had ventured into ‘tradwife’ territory.
Meghan hit back at the allegations, stating that the programme was intended for “redefining womanhood”, explaining that With Love, Meghan provided an opportunity to highlight her passion for culinary arts and entertaining.
Her aim with the programme was also to demonstrate the happiness that could be found in the kitchen. When podcast presenter Emily questioned Meghan regarding the controversy and the impact of negative feedback, the Duchess hit back.
Meghan responded: “I think I know who I was trying to meet, so if you know your audience and you know your demographic, well they love the show, and my partners love the show and that’s why we have a season two.
“So I often think of the negative voices, are they saying negative things and then secretly going home and making my single skillet spaghetti? Maybe they are. So from my standpoint, the intention of the show was to show more of myself, to share tips that I love in my life, and to have fun.”
The second series of the show boasts a star-studded guest list including US model and TV personality Chrissy Teigen, Queer Eye’s Tan France, podcaster Jay Shetty and his cookbook author wife Radhi Devlukia.
The culinary line-up features Clare Smyth, who helms Core, a three-Michelin star restaurant in London, and Jose Andres, founder of the World Central Kitchen.
Join the Daily Record’s WhatsApp community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages.