Misogynist Jeremy Clarkson gets his comeuppance… but what can be done about the thousands of other Meghan/confident-woman haters?

It seems for many posters the every day trashing of Meghan is entertainment. It can be 'fun' and addictive to bitch about another woman, anonymously. Surely as women we can be better than this. It goes beyond criticising any "behaviour", but to tear down her hair, her nose, her clothes, her figure, her skin colour, I even saw posts in the past criticising how she carried her baby wrong when she was a brand new mother, and posters saying they didn't believe or care that she was a suicidal pregnant woman. It's all done in a gleeful, nasty tone, and for those of us who prefer to defend her we're not doing it out of entertainment.

Here we have a post about JC's odious article, among others, and again the discussion drifts to whether Meghan deserved what was said about her. Not whether JC deserved sanctions or punishment or not.

Yes yes yes to this. No, we are not doing it out of entertainment, we are doing it (well I am anyway) because I hate to see this sort of demonisation of a woman who really isn't spawn of the devil and doesn't drown kittens.

Just to add, I would do and have done the same with other people I don't think deserves it either.

@Morestrangerthings

I am so glad you are enjoying SUITS. I came to know of Meghan ,Markle when SUITS started because my two nephews introduced me to the show. They both had a huge crush on Meghan, in fact, one became a lawyer because of the show.

She is absolutely terrific in it, sharp delivery, great clothes, and those eyes. She is so expressive.

True story, when the engagement was announced, I write an open letter to her, to tell her to stay away from that toxic family. I said she had way too muc for them!! I was right!!

Too much charisma, even!!

there are more constructive uses of your/my time than posting on MN

Ah so I should leave the bigots to it. Gotcha.

@MrsMaxDeWinter Very prescient of you to write the open letter :)

I watched an interview in which Germaine Greer was asked for her take on the upcoming H&M wedding. She sighed, and then warned Meghan off the Royal Family too. That Meghan would find them too dreary and dusty - or something like that.

@TallerSally Thanks for that link, I hadn't seen it before. I don't normally read Stylist, it's good to see a publication actually defending this lady and calling out all the BS.

I wonder whether some form of neurosis has gripped a large number of vocal individuals in relation to Meghan. To some, she has become dehumanised, no longer a person and a mother, but a concept, a bogey-woman. Could this explain the irrational, incoherent, obsessive ways in which so many are behaving, turning piling hatred on her into a national sport and source of entertainment, shouting down and belittling anyone who shows empathy as a blind supporter incapable of discernment, and praising every Tom, Dick and Harry (bar one) who finds creative ways to insult her?

I honestly don't understand this either. It's like people have forgotten that she's a real woman, not some fictional villain you can say anything about.

Good post @TallerSally

I read this article a few days ago. It's often rubbished on here that Meghan was never given a chance from the moment she appeared but this article proves otherwise. And on MN, she was insulted and demeaned right from when they got engaged. The threads are there, pMNers can go and look, I was reading them at the time, shocked. I remember thinking what on earth is going on, why are posters being so horrible about her? The OW interview cant be blamed, she was set up as a punch bag in the media and here
And it goes on and on.

www.refinery29.com/en-gb/2021/06/10518195/megxit-meghan-markle-anti-fandom

Warning..the article is v long. A couple of the newest comments below it are interesting

I don't know why I link articles because those I would really like to read it... won't

Great post.

Thanks for the articles - I think they encapsulate sometimes just how much Meghan has become a pantomime villain to many. There is an element of racism though I’m not sure of the “exotic mulatto” element - the concept of the mulatto is not a British one though I may be wrong. Though I agree with the idea of her not being what people would expect Harry would have partner with - you see it with how Chelsey and Cressida are discussed. I think it will take longer than 4 years - the rollercoaster of Meghan hate shows no sign of abating and it’s been 8 years.

@TallerSally
The definition of non-entity is not that some people haven't heard of them.
Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Dorothy Vaughan were never non-entities even though most people had never heard of them before the film.

@TallerSally greta post and thanks for the link.

I agree with all of you who have expressed the dehumanisation element of what is happening to Meghan and it is why I comment as I do. I don't want to live in a world where nobody sticks up for someone being horrendously bullied like this. Its disturbing the lengths people have gone to and the continued campaign to ruin all and any opportunity she has to make a career and life for herself and her family. Thanks for the link too @Roussette

Jeremy Clarkson and similar have always held questionable views, for some reason they always get a pass and their careers aren't overly affected, probably as they're rich white men. The fact a news outlet thought yep that's fine to print is also horrendous, it just shows why these people feel emboldened- because the media is fine with these abhorrent views.

I'm not arsed on any of them- royal or H&M but sick of seeing them all over the news. Who bloody cares that Harry went out with his daughter the other day, same as who actually is arsed that Kate went to Wimbledon? I try and avoid the news but also like to try and keep on top of actual news.

I absolutely think race comes into it but as a black woman I'm not sure I see it the same way as most will. I don't think a lot will understand my thoughts so I won't say, but I do think the positive headlines and articles at the start of their relationship weren't seen as positive to her.

I think she suffers from negativity bias, it’s a very human thing. If you read 1000 articles which are 99% positive there is a tendency to fixate on the one single clause in one single article that sounds a bit like criticism. And then you’re like oh my god, they’ve been so harsh. I don’t blame her for that. But other people who think she got slated at the beginning, I don’t get that at all.

Articles were positive at the start. I think personally that being reduced to her ethnicity meant that people had certain expectations for her instead of remembering she's a person and we are not defined by skin tone. This meant when she chose to do x or made decision y it was seen as wrong (even though it wasn't). Being heralded as the change the monarchy needs and a great example for minorities is also a big weight to bare, if she had been able to explore what she wanted to do which sounded like a lot of good at the time ie charity stuff etc then this would have happened naturally, but she wasn't afforded the chance for that and everything was given much greater scrutiny. She wasn't seen as Meghan, she was seen as a mixed race woman and that's hard to deal with (nothing to do with being mixed race, but being reduced to skin tone). I do think the interviews and whatever else were probably misguided especially as some elements have been proven to be lies, I'd have loved to have seen them move and then get on with establishing themselves in their own rights, but I can see why they felt the need to add their narrative to one sided criticism from the media.

Jeremy clarkson has always pushed the limits but because he can be very funny and has a weird charisma he gets away with it. The Meghan comments are a bridge too far and cannot be tolerated. Glad he lost out because of them.