The former “Suits” actress and Prince Harry’s Archewell Foundation funded a groundbreaking study titled “Rewriting Motherhood: How TV Represents Mom and What We Want to See Next.”
Meghan Markle has combined her previous role with her current one in support of a recent study examining the portrayal of moms in the entertainment and media industries.
According to People, the former “Suits” actress and Prince Harry’s Archewell Foundation funded “Rewriting Motherhood: How TV Represents Mom and What We Want to See Next,” a groundbreaking study completed in collaboration with the nonprofit Moms First and the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media.
“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,” Markle said in a statement. “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.”
According to the study, mothers on television tended to be white, young, and thin, which did not accurately reflect the demographics of mothers in America. A mere 1.8% of mothers were overweight, 6.2% were queer, and there were no representations of mothers with disabilities.
In TV shows, the father was the family’s primary provider 90% of the time — another instance of how fictional households did not correspond to real-life statistics.
The mothers were also strikingly beautiful, had spotless homes, and mainly neglected their child-rearing duties.
“The representation of motherhood seemed like such a throwback,” Davis told Vanity Fair, People reported. “It didn’t reflect modern reality anywhere near as closely as I had hoped or imagined.”
According to the report, the Geena Davis Institute, experts on the entertainment industry, and Moms First, which specializes in the assistance parents need to succeed, are eager to assist entertainment industry leaders in their endeavors to portray motherhood on television more accurately.
The Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry have two children: son Prince Archie, 4, and daughter Princess Lilibet, 2.
“We love having her support and the support of Archewell,” Davis added of the Duchess. “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.”
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