Duchess Meghan talks inaccurate portrayals of women on screen, praises 'incredible' Harry

AUSTIN, Texas — Duchess Meghan and Prince Harry celebrated International Women’s Day at the SXSW festival.

As her husband watched from the audience, the Duchess of Sussex joined Katie Couric, Brooke Shields and sociologist Nancy Wang Yuen Friday for the festival’s keynote, “Breaking Barriers, Shaping Narratives: How Women Lead on and Off the Screen," moderated by journalist Errin Haines.

Upon the Duke of Sussex's arrival, attendees in the Austin Convention Center ballroom flocked to take snaps and see the royal, who got a shoutout from his wife.

During the converstaion, Meghan spoke to a study funded by her and Prince Harry's Archewell Foundation, which was done in partnership with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media and titled "Rewriting Motherhood: How TV Represents Mom and What We Want to See Next."

Among its conclusions, the report found “Moms on TV are mostly white, young, and thin” and “the realities of childcare are invisible on TV.”

“Oftentimes as women, the way that we see ourselves is reflected back to us sometimes accurately and sometimes much to our disservice, inaccurately in what we see in media,” Meghan said. “To be able to have the findings to uncover what we can do to propel that to make sure women are really feeling seen in a way that is reflective of who and how we are and how we move through the world felt important.”

Meghan said she wanted paid leave for moms and commented on the gender wage gap: “One of the findings actually said that working moms are paid $0.62 to the dollar for what working dads, are and it’s almost feeling punitive at a certain point.”

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The duchess praised Harry as she addressed the negative influence of social media on moms.

“When you’re a new mom, it is a really vulnerable time,” she said, “and the effect that social media can have on new mothers — even just the lack of sleep because they spend all this time scrolling and scrolling — but it can also be really dizzying for them to see this portrayal of motherhood that looks so perfect when we all know it’s not perfect. We all know that it’s messy.

“I’m fortunate in that amongst the privileges that I have in my life, I have an incredible partner,” she continued. “My husband is such a hands-on dad, and such a supporter of me and our family, and that I don’t take for granted. That is a real blessing, but a lot of people don’t have that same level of support.”

During the panel, Couric encouraged Meghan to share the story of how she wrote to Proctor & Gamble frustrated over a commercial for dish soap, which targeted women, instead of people in general.

“If you see something that you don’t like or are offended by … write letters and send them to the right people, and you can really make a difference, for not just yourself but lots of other people,” 12-year-old Meghan previously said on Nick News.

She echoed that sentiment on Friday. “Your voice is not small; it just needs to be heard.”

“This is one of the ways where we differ,” Shields said with a chuckle. “When I was 11, I was playing a prostitute (in the film ‘Pretty Baby’).” The ballroom erupted with laughter.

Shields addressed the small number of roles for older actresses. “At 58, you’re too old to be the ingenue, but you’re not quite the granny yet and they don’t know what to do with you,” she told the crowd. “And so if you’re not the sexy woman at the bar, you’re in depends or dentures. Those are the things you’re offered.”

Shields said to counter the discrimination she seeks out filmmakers who appreciate the wisdom and life experiences older women offer.

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