Meghan Markel: Trading Independence for Royalty

Every little girl dreams of becoming a princess. Young girls are taught from a very early age to be proper ladies, conditioned to please men in all aspects of life. Being a princess is so important to young girls - they dream of living the life portrayed in Disney films, and only hope to one day be like Cinderella (after the ball), or Sleeping Beauty. On May 19th 2018, Prince Harry and Meghan Markel are are to be married; a celebration which will be watched and talked about by millions of people from all over the world. To the British, royal weddings are a huge deal, and to be a non-royal marrying a royal is a massive honor. Meghan Markel is a 37-year-old (retired) American actress. When she met Prince Harry, she was a young, independent, single woman managing her own life and making money as an actress. She was allowed to live her life freely, without (m)any rules or restrictions, and afforded all the luxuries of being a beautiful woman in America. However, her marriage to Prince Harry in a week's time will change all of that. Using the Neo-Marxist perspective to analyze Meghan and Harry's relationship will work to "expose how material conditions and economic practices shape dominant ideology regarding taken-for-granted assumptions about who 'ought to be' and 'ought to not be' empowered" (Sellnow, 115).

When a person of royal status in Britain gets married, there are a number of strict rules and regulations that must be followed once the knot has been tied, especially for the female. The woman will now only work to serve her husband. She must give up her previous jobs, hobbies and independent life to be completely tied down by her male counterpart. She will only be allowed to work for and promote charitable events that are agreed upon by the rest of the royal family as to not bring shame or dishonor to the royal name. It is taboo for royalty to get divorced, however when Princess Diana divorced Prince Charles, it was seen as more acceptable from that point on. Meghan Markel must give up every aspect of her life that made her an independent woman, and succumb to the to wants and wishes of her husband and the royal handbook. When implying a neo-Marxist perspective to the royal marriage, we see the practices that have been followed by royalty for years. These practices help to shape the dominant ideology of what it means to be a member of the royal family, and define what it means to be a "princess." The material wealth that comes with being a royal is undeniable, but is it worth the inevitable enslavement by the husband? In this case, the Meghan Markel will become a princess, and in turn becomes the "ought not to be" empowered, simply because of the archaic and outdated rules that define what it means to be a female member of the royal family. Prince Harry becomes the "ought to be" empowered, because as soon as he is married, he is in constant control of his wife. Prince Harry will be able to continue living his life the way he always has before and after the wedding, while Meghan must give up her life completely and create a whole new one for herself.

With all of the progress women have been trying to make in recent years regarding the equality of the sexes, this seems like a huge step in the wrong direction for women everywhere. Onlookers will watch Meghan in her gorgeous dress in a horse-drawn carriage marrying a beautiful man and think "I want that" without understanding all of the negative implications that come with marrying into the royal family. Meghan might become the fairytale all girls dream about, but I doubt all girls dream about being a slave to their husbands. Meghan Markel is not only showing women it is okay to be disempowered, she is also showing women that no matter how hard they try to fight for equal rights, the male dominant ideology will always win.

Sellnow, Deanna D. The Rhetorical Power of Popular Culture: Considering Mediated Texts. 2nd ed., SAGE, 2014.