Exploring the dynamic connection between Meghan and Gloria Steinem; a look at their shared activism and views

Before her frequent appearance in the UK media, for better or for worse, after her marriage to Harry, Duke of Sussex, Meghan Markle was more well known for two things; the first being her appearances on the US television series Suits, closely followed by her wide-ranging advocacy work. It’s been work she’s continued since returning to the United States in 2020, and work that she will be commended for at the 50th Ms. Foundation for Women ceremony, earning the Women of Vision Award, which has previously gone to luminaries including Hillary Clinton, Ava DuVernay, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, and Diane von Furstenberg.

Cometh the hour on May 16, she will be presented with the award by feminist icon Gloria Steinem, who also happens to be one of the founders Ms Magazine; but Steinem’s face is one already very familiar to Meghan, and to viewers of the Netflix series Harry and Meghan, where Steinem made several appearances. In fact, Steinem could be considered a huge influence on Markle’s philanthropic advocacy for female rights - in 1972, she helped launch the aforementioned Ms magazine, which helped to popularise feminist issues and ideas, and has been a leading figure in the women's liberation movement ever since.

Throughout her career, Steinem has written extensively on a range of topics related to women's rights, including reproductive freedom, gender equality, and sexual harassment. She has also been a prominent advocate for social justice and has spoken out on issues such as racism, poverty, and LGBTQ+ rights.

Steinem has received numerous awards and honours for her work, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and remains a highly respected and influential figure in the feminist and progressive movements. With one of her students having “graduated” the university of life, and taken plenty of knock along the way, we can only imagine how much Markle not only will enjoy receiving acknowledgement of her positive endeavours, but to receive it from such a hallowed name as Steinem is the cherry on top of the progressive sundae. 

But for someone that has, from our perspective, helped inform Markle of a number of issues regarding women’s rights and become an influence, the pair are hardly seen photographed together. In fact the first “public appearance” between the two was in 2020, when Meghan Markle and Prince Harry visited Gloria Steinem at her home in California to discuss voting rights and the importance of women's political participation. The meeting was part of Meghan Markle's ongoing efforts to use her platform to promote social justice and activism, one of a number of themes Steinem has politicked for throughout her history as a feminist campaigner.

So just how attuned are the pair when it comes to five crucial matters that the world continues to face, despite Steinem’s decades of advocacy, and what has Meghan’s stance been on said issues that have populated the activist career of Gloria Steinem?

Women’s rights

In the 1960s and 1970s, Steinem was a vocal advocate for women's right to choose, and she helped to organise and lead protests against restrictive abortion laws. In 1971, Steinem co-founded the Women's Action Alliance, an organisation dedicated to promoting women's rights and combating sexism. 

Through this she helped to provide information and resources to women seeking abortions, as well as to train activists and organisers to work for reproductive justice. Steinem also wrote extensively on the topic of reproductive rights, including in her book "Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions" which includes an essay titled "Reproductive Freedom: Why We Must and Can Control Our Own Bodies."

For Markle, women’s rights have been tantamount to her activism as much as her involvement in the civil rights movement. Markle has spoken publicly about her belief in gender equality and the importance of feminist activism. In a 2018 speech in New Zealand, she said: "Women's suffrage is not simply about the right to vote for women, but also about what that represents: the basic and fundamental human right of all people, including those members of society who have been marginalised whether for reasons of race, gender, ethnicity or orientation, to be able to participate in the choices for their future and their community.

While abortion rights are still a hot subject in the United States, in the United Kingdom the idea of talking about menstruation is only now being normalised outside of advertising and women’s columns. In 2017, Markle wrote an op-ed for Time magazine on the importance of menstrual hygiene and the need to break the stigma around menstruation. She has continued to work on this issue, including by helping to distribute menstrual hygiene products to women in need.

Civil rights

In 1964, Steinem was one of several hundred white Northern women who travelled to Mississippi to support the Freedom Summer project, which aimed to register African American voters in the state. While there, Steinem worked with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to set up Freedom Schools, which provided education and literacy training to African American children who had been excluded from the state's segregated schools.

Steinem also participated in the Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965, which were organised to demand voting rights for African Americans in the South. She has continued to be an active supporter of civil rights and racial justice causes throughout her career, including through her involvement in the Black Lives Matter movement in recent years.

Closer to home, Meghan was involved in the production of 2018’s "Together: Our Community Cookbook," which aimed to raise funds for those affected by the Grenfell Tower fire in London. The cookbook was a collaboration between women from the Hubb Community Kitchen, a group of women who came together in the aftermath of the fire to cook for their families and neighbours.

More importantly than that though was the awareness raised about the ongoing challenges faced by the Grenfell Tower community, many of whom were immigrants and people of colour. In her forward for the book, Markle wrote “Together is more than a cookbook. This is a tale of friendship, and a story of togetherness. It is a tribute to the power of cooking as a community, and the recipes that allow us to connect, share, and look forward."