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A few years ago, an eleven year old girl was watching television program while at her elementary school. A a dish-washing liquid commercial came onto the screen, she recalled. What sparked her attention was its tagline: "Women all over America are fighting greasy pots and pans."
"Two boys from my class said, 'Yeah, that's where women belong, in the kitchen,'" she said. "I remember feeling shocked and angry and also just feeling so hurt — it just wasn't right and something needed to be done."
Returning home, she told her father about the incident who recommended she write letters to people who could make a difference. She wrote to U.S. First Lady Hillary Clinton, TV journalist Linda Ellerbee and attorney Gloria Allred, in addition to addressing a letter to the soap manufacturer. To Markle's surprise, she received "letters of encouragement" from all three women, and a camera crew even came to her house in Los Angeles to cover the story. And the campaigning didn't just encourage discussion and change on a local level either.
"It was roughly a month later, when the soap manufacturer Procter & Gamble changed the commercial for their ivory clear dish-washing liquid. They changed it from 'Women all over America are fighting greasy pots and pans' to 'People all over America,'" she said.
"It was at that moment that I realized the magnitude of my actions. At the age of 11, I had created my small level of impact by standing up for equality."
That eleven year old girl was Meghan Markle, now engaged to Prince Harry of England. The lesson: we can make a difference if we will only act.
"Two boys from my class said, 'Yeah, that's where women belong, in the kitchen,'" she said. "I remember feeling shocked and angry and also just feeling so hurt — it just wasn't right and something needed to be done."
Returning home, she told her father about the incident who recommended she write letters to people who could make a difference. She wrote to U.S. First Lady Hillary Clinton, TV journalist Linda Ellerbee and attorney Gloria Allred, in addition to addressing a letter to the soap manufacturer. To Markle's surprise, she received "letters of encouragement" from all three women, and a camera crew even came to her house in Los Angeles to cover the story. And the campaigning didn't just encourage discussion and change on a local level either.
"It was roughly a month later, when the soap manufacturer Procter & Gamble changed the commercial for their ivory clear dish-washing liquid. They changed it from 'Women all over America are fighting greasy pots and pans' to 'People all over America,'" she said.
"It was at that moment that I realized the magnitude of my actions. At the age of 11, I had created my small level of impact by standing up for equality."
That eleven year old girl was Meghan Markle, now engaged to Prince Harry of England. The lesson: we can make a difference if we will only act.
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