The great-granddaughter of suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst has described the treatment of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, as “sad”.
Dr Helen Pankhurst CBE told the PA news agency people are “so uncomfortable still” with “a woman standing up for herself – not just smiling”.
The 58-year-old added: “Expectations are still around women just looking, and men doing and saying. As soon as a woman does and says, there’s a lot of critique.
“As soon as the woman shines, there’s a lot of critique.”
Meghan – who has been asked to vacate Frogmore cottage with her husband the Duke of Sussex – has been criticised heavily since speaking out about her experience in the royal family.
Jeremy Clarkson’s comments that he “hated” Meghan were published in The Sun in December. The presenter and journalist later said he was “horrified to have caused so much hurt”.
“The media portrayal and the hounding of celebrities – one minute they’re up on a pedestal and the next minute they’re being raked through the dirt and treated appallingly – is really harmful to everyone, not least those who are in the middle of that,” Dr Pankhurst said.
“I think it’s sad the way that she has been treated.”
The gender equality activist, scholar and CARE International’s senior adviser has launched a podcast co-hosted by singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor.
Stars including Beverley Knight, Raye and Imelda May performed songs for a one-off special episode, Walk4Women.
Celebrity male allies feature too, with David Tennant, Michael Sheen and Lemn Sissay sharing messages of support.
Walk4Women was designed and created so people could listen while they walked any distance, to support gender equality on International Women’s Day and beyond.
The podcast features interviews by Dr Pankhurst and Ellis-Bextor with grassroots women in leadership, including Daria Khrystenko, a Ukrainian refugee who fled Kyiv and now helps other refugees to settle in Poland.
There’s also Sherine Ibrahim, who supports women and girls impacted by the Turkey and Syria earthquake in February, and works to prevent sexual exploitation.
A gender lens is “so imperative and so lacking” for natural disasters such as the earthquake or other humanitarian crises, says Dr Pankhurst, whose famous activist ancestors also include grandmother Sylvia Pankhurst and aunt Christabel Pankhurst.
“Women are socially and biologically experiencing different things,” she said. “Socially, they’re involved in care of the elderly, the young, the disabled, the ill. They are responsible for making sure that families can eat.
“Biologically, there are issues around pregnancy and menstruation and all sorts of factors that need to be considered in any emergency.
“Young girls [are] particularly vulnerable. Patterns of early marriage often increase in situations of insecurity… Girls are more likely to be pulled out of education.”
She warned the cost-of-living crisis could leave women even more vulnerable to violence.
“Violence is global, and it’s particularly bad in situations of crisis. We saw that even with COVID, a form of crisis, and we will see it with the cost of living.
“In any crisis, you tend to see violence go up – there’s a global pattern that happens like that. So yes, we will see those figures [come out in relation to the cost of living].”
Dr Pankhurst urged men to “have the courage to be more active allies”.
She said: “I think it’s almost more important for a man to be a feminist and be proudly so and loudly so, and change views of those men around him that are perpetuating patriarchy.”
Her great-grandmother “would be frustrated with the rate of pace of change”, she said.
“She’d be saying, ‘Come on, we can do better. We don’t want to wait another 200 years.’
She added: “There are not enough women politicians – I firmly believe if you had more women politicians, a lot of this would be much higher on the priority chain.”
Are you a feminist? What do you think about the way Meghan has been treated? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Also read: How Prince Harry’s memoir will affect the royal brand
– With PA
Meghan has been treated appallingly. She would have proved to be a great asset to the Royal Family had she been allowed to be herself, but unfortunately it seems that this is not the general expectation of the Family or the British media. Also the fact that she is of mixed race and divorced was not helpful to the image of an English princess. The fact that she was prepared to stand up for herself, not to be simply an obedient ornament, and refused to go along with all of the media’s requirements made her an object of increasing anger by the said media. And the Royal Family have not done anything to help her. My own opinion is that everyone was hoping that Meghan would run back home to the US and disappear, leaving Harry in the UK where he belonged. This didn’t happen, so now the media are reviling both of them for destroying the status quo, and daring to put the responsibility back where it belongs.
Simple, you join the royal family you go along with the royal protocols, if you’re not prepared to do that then don’t. Harry’s previous girlfriend Chelsea realised what life would be like as a royal and opted out – smart lady, unlike this self indulgent trollop.
Such a privileged individual, Meghan has not stopped whinging since she became involved with the Royal Family. With a massive wealth and living conditions that most of us could only dream of, Meghan and Harry left the UK to stay out of the media only to partake in every opportunity to appear in front of a camera. If that’s being treated as unkind then I’m not sure what the term means.
All I could say about the author of the article, Dr Pankhurst is that it takes trash to recognise trash. Even Markles own family have called her our for what she is. She has totally destroyed Harry, but all she is looking at is the big pay off when she leaves him, and she will blame the Royals for it.
The British people have been voting people of colour into Parliament since around 1767, ie before British eyes had even set sight on Australia and the first coloured London mayor was voted in a few years later in 1772. The British Cabinet has around a dozen ministers who are coloured, the Prime Minister is African Indian; London’s current mayor is from the Middle East, all elected individuals, chosen by the people. Does this lady with a slight tint think that she is anything exceptional and that people would dislike her if she acted appropriately?
Most peoples’ experiences of joining any establishment is to first watch, listen, see if they like it and if not get out and if they do, bide their time for the opportunity to make changes.
From reports the royal couple left for Canada with £2 million from Papa and around £10 million from the Will of Harry’s mother. Maybe not enough for a Princess or a famous Hollywood actress but then she was neither of these, she only wished and pretended she was. But then it’s not a bad start for a couple seeking privacy and anonymity as they claimed.
You only need to look at Megan and Harry’s interview with Oprah Winfrey to see the total lack of any substance to their complaints.
This woman is angry for what she never was but wanted to be. She and her husband both suffer from relevance deficit disorder and like parasites they continue to feed on the negativity they create.