Former actress Meghan Markle decried slut-shaming on her Archetype podcast, claiming men who sleep around get a free pass while women who explore their sexuality face scrutiny.
Markle made her comments while speaking with transgender actor Michaela Jaé Rodgriguez, a man living as a woman.
“I mean, one of the things that I think as all women we face is as you’re getting older, you’re exploring and starting to understand your sensuality, your feminine divine, your sexuality. Oftentimes it can be very much used against you,” Markle said.
“And I give the example of, you know, for a woman especially versus a man, a man, if he is a player or out having fun or whatever he’s doing, it’s often celebrated, even heralded,” added Markle. “But for a woman, I don’t care if she is perhaps the most successful woman in finance in her mid-50s, I promise you someone will still go: ‘Yeah, but she was such a slut in college.’”
Rodriguez, known for his role on the FX series Pose, agreed and recalled a time he posted a picture of himself on Instagram that “freed the nipple.”
“There was one experience where it was literally an Instagram post and I posted a picture of, you know, me just, it wasn’t topless, but there was a mesh shirt and you know, I freed the nipple,” Rodriguez said. “I felt liberated, not just to show, but just to feel artistic and feel creative in knowing that this is my body and not someone else’s.”
“And when I would read the comments, you know, obviously there were women that uplifted me because most women are like, yes, free the nipple,” he continued.
“We should be able to feel comfortable with our bodies, but when I would look at some of the comments of what men would say, they would go into my personal and I’m like, ‘That’s, one, none of your business. Asking about my boyfriends, how does that equate to you? And also, I mean, are you dealing with something within yourself as to why you have to ask me the question?'”
Markle called this a “projection” and that people are truly speaking about how they feel about themselves.
The Duchess of Sussex has been upping her social justice rhetoric in recent days with the launch of her new podcast. As Breitbart News previously reported, Markle made headlines when she publicly lamented about being “objectified” while performing as a briefcase girl on Deal or No Deal.
“I was thankful for the job, but not for how it made me feel, which was not smart,” Markle complained. “I would end up leaving with this pit in my stomach, knowing I was so much more than what was being objectified on the stage.”
“I didn’t like feeling forced to be all looks and little substance,” she continued. “And that’s how it felt for me at the time: being reduced to this specific archetype.”