What is the angry black woman stereotype? MeghanMarkle unpicks the cliché in her latest podcast episode.
Ziwe responded to Meghan’s heritage with enthusiasm. “This is huge for our community,” she said. “No, honestly, you do look like a Nigerian, you look like my Aunt Uzo. So this is great.”along with its history and the way it is applied to women today. The pair talked about Ziwe’s Instagram showwhich introduced her to a broader audience during the pandemic and how she has experienced double standards as a woman in male-dominated late night comedy.
“I grew up with culturally conservative parents who had a really like strict understanding of women, what women did and how they lived and they cooked and cleaned, etc,” she said. “And so, from that understanding, I also exist in society and I know what the expectations are of women there as well. And these things correlate. And so to be the character of Ziwe that is brash and rude and thoughtful is in direct opposition to what a woman should be publicly, according to sexism.
For the bulk of the conversation, she spoke to Issa Rae about her own upbringing and how attending a live taping offor fighting against stereotypes of Black characters and portraying "nuanced, layered, multifaceted women." “I remember when I was auditioning, and even the idea of Black roles,” Meghan said. “I remember those casting sheets where the description of the character, she always had to have an edge or an attitude.”