If you hate it when commercials send the message that housework is the responsibility of women and women alone, it turns out you have something in common with Meghan Markle. It's fairly well-known that Markle is an outspoken feminist, but it turns out she began fighting sexism long before her acting career made her a household name.
When Markle was just 11 years old, she saw a Procter & Gamble commercial that didn't sit well with her because it declared that "women all over America are fighting greasy pots and pans," according to Inside Edition.
Markle took matters into her own hands (it was 25 years ago, but she already knew that girls run the world) and kicked off a letter-writing campaign to bring attention to the sexist nature of the commercial. In addition to penning a letter to Procter & Gamble, Markle wrote to a diverse group of women in various professions, including then-First Lady Hillary Clinton, attorney Gloria Allred, and Nick News host Linda Ellerbee.
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The letter caught the attention of Ellerbee and she asked Markle to appear on Nick News to talk about the issue.
"I don’t think it is right for kids to grow up thinking these things, that just mom does everything,” Markle told Nick News in the clip, which was obtained by Inside Edition. "It's always 'Mom does this' and 'Mom does that.'"
Check out the 11-year-old feminist force below:
"If you see something that you don’t like or are offended by on television or any other place, write letters and send them to the right people and you can really make a difference, not just for yourself but for lots of other people," Markle concluded, as reported by The New York Times.
And what do you know? Procter & Gamble ultimately did change their phrasing to "people everywhere," just like Markle requested. Although it hasn't been confirmed that her letter is what sparked the change, the experience was a life lesson for Markle that she spoke about during a 2015 speech at the U.N.
"It was at that moment that I realised the magnitude of my actions. At the age of 11, I had created my small level of impact by standing up for equality," she said.
When she joins the Royal Family, Markle will have many opportunities to make a difference for people all over the world — and something tells me that she'll use her new platform to continue fighting for positive change.
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