Meghan Markle Breaks Down "Toxic" Stereotypes in Podcast Episode After the Queen's Death

Meghan Markle's podcast is back following a hiatus during the mourning period for Queen Elizabeth II.

In a new episode of Archetypes with comedian Margaret Cho and journalist Lisa Ling, the duchess of Sussex discussed the cultural diversity she grew up around in Los Angeles, admitted she didn't realize the racism that exists behind certain Asian stereotypes (particularly in Hollywood) until years later.

"Movies like Austin Powers and Kill Bill—they presented these caricatures of women of Asian descent as oversexualized or aggressive," she said. "This toxic stereotyping of women of Asian descent… this doesn't just end once the credits roll."

Cho then addressed the "dragon lady" trope, saying that it stems from the "fantasy of Orientalism."

"It's similar to the femme fatale… a woman who is beautiful and deadly. Because we can't just be beautiful. We have to have, like it has to come at a cost and it's kind of like, evil queen adjacent. But it's also so pinned to this idea that Asianness is an inherent threat. That our foreignness is somehow 'gonna getcha,'" Cho said. "The mystery and the exoticism of it is part of it. And unfortunately, that trope has really stuck to film, but also to Asian-American women or Asian women."

Cho, who grew up in San Francisco, said she "never saw Asian people" on screen when she was growing up, and so she "never felt seen anywhere."

Ling agreed, saying the lack of representation for Asians even in cable TV and news channels drove her to pursue journalism.

"To be honest with you, the reason why I pursued broadcast journalism at all was because growing up, it's the only path that I thought was available to me. I was someone who grew up in a broken home," she said. "My parents were divorced when I was 7, and the television was always on in my home. It was like my favorite babysitter. And I used to have these fantasies of, of being part of it somehow, because I thought, if I can get on TV, maybe I, I will have a better life one day. But no one looked remotely like me on TV except for Connie Chung."

Duchess Meghan's latest podcast episode is the fourth in her show. In previous episodes, she spoke with guests Serena Williams, Mariah Carey, and Mindy Kaling about racism and debunking gender stereotypes, including the stigma that comes with being an unmarried woman, the pushback that outspoken women often receive from society, and the negative connotation behind the word "diva."

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