Meghan Markle Breaks Down ‘Toxic’ Asian Stereotypes in First New Podcast Episode Since the Queen’s Death

After a hiatus in releasing new episodes of Archetypes following the deathof Queen Elizabeth on Sept. 8, Spotify dropped the latest edition of theDuchess of Sussex’s podcast on Tuesday.

Margaret Cho and Lisa Ling joined Meghan to break down the trope of the”Dragon Lady.” The duchess opened the episode by recalling the diversity ofcultures she was exposed to while growing up in Los Angeles, explaining that”the multitude of Asian cultures was a huge part of that,” from exploringLittle Tokyo on the weekends to relaxing at the Korean spa with her mother,Doria Ragland.

However, Meghan admitted that she wasn’t aware of the prejudiced stigmas manyAsian women are forced to navigate until years later, pointing to theproblematic portrayals often seen on the silver screen.

“Movies like Austin Powers and Kill Bill — they presented thesecaricatures of women of Asian descent as oversexualized or aggressive,” shesaid, noting that the classic films were just two of “many” examples.

“This toxic stereotyping of women of Asian descent… this doesn’t just end oncethe credits roll,” she continued.

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Margaret Cho and LisaLingMargaretCho and LisaLing

Margaret Cho and Lisa Ling

Getty (2) Margaret Cho; Lisa Ling

Welcoming Cho to break down the “dragon lady” trope, the 53-year-old actress,activist and comedian said the archetype stems from the “fantasy ofOrientalism.”

“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 acost and it’s kind of like, evil queen adjacent. But it’s also so pinned tothis idea that Asianness is an inherent threat. That our foreignness issomehow ‘gonna getcha,'” Cho said. “The mystery and the exoticism of it ispart of it. And unfortunately, that trope has really stuck to film, but alsoto Asian-American women or Asian women.”

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Reflecting on her childhood in San Francisco, the Fire Island star said shewas “raised” by TV and movies, but felt frustrated with the lack of Asianrepresentation.

“I never saw Asian people in them, and so I never felt visible. I never feltseen anywhere. And then later, I guess, I started to go into silent films, andI started to realize, ‘Oh, this is actually like an archetype, this archetypeof the Dragon Lady,’ ” she said of her experience watching early Asian-American movie stars like Anna May Wong.

Ling, 49, also spoke to the lack of representation she saw on the smallscreen, revealing that it was a driving force for her to go into journalism.

“To be honest with you, the reason why I pursued broadcast journalism at allwas 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,” the CNN host shared. “My parentswere divorced when I was 7, and the television was always on in my home. Itwas like my favorite babysitter. And I used to have these fantasies of beingpart of it somehow, because I thought, if I can get on TV, maybe I will have abetter life one day. But no one looked remotely like me on TV, except forConnie Chung.”

“She still is just the symbol of elegance and intelligence and, and grace. Andshe really allowed me to know what was possible,” Ling added. “She was theonly Asian person on a national stage. And so I thought that this would be myonly pathway.”

Breaking tradition with episodes past, Archetypes ‘ next guest was notrevealed.

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The mourning period for Queen Elizabeth’s family extended until one week afterthe late monarch’s funeral, which took place on Sept. 19. Since then, membersof the royal family have returned to carrying out normal duties.

Three episodes of Archetypes were released before the monarch’s death, withMeghan welcoming guests Serena Williams, Mariah Carey and Mindy Kaling todebunk stereotypes about women. But Spotify confirmed the delay in newepisodes by updating the podcast’s “About” section to read: “New episodes ofArchetypes will be paused during the official mourning period for Her MajestyThe Queen Elizabeth II.”

Last week, Spotify made another adjustment to announce the return date,writing: “Regularly scheduled episodes will resume Tuesday, October 4.”

Two days after the first episode dropped, Archetypes became the number onepodcast in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealandand Canada on Spotify’s international charts.

Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan,Duchess of Sussex and Peter Phillips arrive at the Palace of Westminster afterthe procession for the Lying-in State of Queen Elizabeth II on September 14,2022 in London,England.Catherine,Princess of Wales, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussexand Peter Phillips arrive at the Palace of Westminster after the processionfor the Lying-in State of Queen Elizabeth II on September 14, 2022 in London,England.

Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchessof Sussex and Peter Phillips arrive at the Palace of Westminster after theprocession for the Lying-in State of Queen Elizabeth II on September 14, 2022in London, England.

_Phil Noble – WPA Pool/Getty _ Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

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Mike Tindall, who is married to Queen Elizabeth’s granddaughter Zara, alsohosts a podcast. In the first new episode of __The Good, The Bad & The Rugby__following the monarch’s death, he admitted that he had “regrets.”

“I also have loads of regrets about not asking her so many more things,” Mikesaid, recalling “having nervousness when you get that lucky seat of being satnext to her.”

“What would you ask her now if you could?” co-host Alex Payne asked.

“Just going back through history and everything she’s possibly seen — 15 primeministers, I don’t know how many presidents. To go through everything,” Mikereflected. Alluding to the incredible pressure of the royal role, which theQueen performed for 70 years, he added, “When she’s meeting dictators, she hasto stay neutral, she has to perform her duty.”