Preteen Meghan Markle Fought Sexist Advertising In This Unearthed Video

Las week, Prince Harry announced he is engaged to an American actress and now the public has an insatiable appetite for all things Meghan Markle. Luckily, fans of the royal bride-to-be have another piece of Markle history to sink their teeth into.

When the actress was just 11 years old, she starred in a video that aired on Nickelodeon. The young activist spoke out against a sexist dish soap advertisement implying that only women are responsible for household cleaning.

Check out preteen Markle critiquing sexist stereotypes in the awesome clip below:

Markle and her classmates were asked to watch commercials and assess their messaging as part of a social studies class.

Regarding an Ivory soap commercial that said, “Women are fighting greasy pots and pans,” a young Markle astutely declared, “I don’t think it’s right for kids to grow up thinking these things, that just Mom does everything.”

She continued, “It’s always ‘Mom does this,’ ‘Mom does that.’ Just about one out of every three commercials is going to say something that’s going to hurt somebody’s feelings.”

Markle was so displeased by the commercial that she wrote a letter to the company Procter & Gamble, asking them to replace the word “women” with “people.” Her activism was successful — the company actually made the change.

What a precocious and smart young lady! In addition to writing to Procter & Gamble, she also sent letters to prominent female leaders, including then-First Lady Hillary Clinton, TV journalist Linda Ellerbee, and attorney Gloria Allred. To her delight, all three women responded and encouraged Markle to stand up for what she believes in.

Markle is still speaking up on behalf of women. Years later, she advocated for gender equality when she spoke at the UN Women’s 20th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference of Women in Beijing event in 2015. She recalled her young efforts to fight sexism with pride, and declared, “Women need a seat at the table, they need an invitation to be seated there and in some cases, where this isn’t available, well then you know what, then they need to create their own table.”

No doubt that Markle will use her new platform as part of the royal family to continue to fight for these important issues!

[H/t HelloGiggles]