Meghan Markle Wants to Change the Way We Look at Moms

The Duchess of Sussex is looking to change the way we view motherhood onscreen as she has funded new research raising awareness of the way moms are portrayed as characters in TV shows.

Meghan, a former professional actress turned philanthropist, has joined forces with Hollywood actress Geena Davis and the Moms First advocacy movement to draw attention to the way motherhood is depicted through entertainment media, and how it reflects wider society. Newsweek approached representatives of Meghan Markle via email for comment.

Funded through the royal's Archewell Foundation and compiled by Moms First with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, the results of the study—which analyzed scripted television programs from 2022 and were published on Thursday—found that characters who are mothers are still being underrepresented as breadwinners, as well as the majority being "white, young, and thin."

In 2022, when a TV show depicted an opposite-sex couple with children under the age of 18, 86.5 percent of the time the sole or primary breadwinner was the father, the study found.

This highlights a disparity between the fiscal reality facing the American public. In 2018, 44.4 percent of mothers earned at least half of the household income in families with children aged between 6 and 17.

It also found that, of all TV moms of children under 18 in 2022, 57.5 percent were white while 23.8 percent were Black, 9.2 percent Latina, and 7 percent Asian or Pacific Islander. Additionally, 6.2 percent were queer, and none were disabled.

As a result of their findings, which also examined the physical and domestic expectations placed on TV moms, the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media and Moms First have compiled a list of formal recommendations for TV executives and producers.

These include providing flexible work options for writers to make it more accessible for those that are moms to work and write themselves; investing in childcare and gender-neutral paid family leave for employees; and casting mom characters with more diverse backgrounds and appearances.

For writers, the groups have recommended that they work to integrate the real-life problems facing moms into storylines, as well as to broaden their view of motherhood across a more-diverse spectrum.

In a statement about her involvement in funding the research, Meghan stressed the importance of finding faithful representations of motherhood on TV, as she has become a mother of two herself.

"My past experience as an actress, and now today as a producer and mother, have amplified my belief in the critical importance of supporting women and moms both behind the lens and in front of it," she told Vanity Fair magazine.

"This report about the portrayal of mothers in entertainment highlights the gaps we need to fill to achieve true representation in the content we create and consume, and I'm honored to support this work through the Archewell Foundation," Meghan added.

Davis founded her institute in 2004 examining gender roles and equality in media after the reaction to her performance in the 1991 movie Thelma & Louise. She expressed gratitude to Meghan for her contribution to the project.

"We love having her support and the support of Archewell," Davis said. "We can't do it without financial support like that, and it's obviously a subject that's very near and dear to her heart."

The research publication comes as the duchess will take to the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference stage in Austin, Texas, on March 8. She will be part of a special panel focused on women in the entertainment industry to mark International Women's Day.

Meghan will be joined by notable women such as broadcast journalist Katie Couric and actress Brooke Shields for the panel titled: "Breaking Barriers, Shaping Narratives: How Women Lead On and Off the Screen."

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

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