Trevor Noah has said that men need to learn to be more comfortable with their emotions and crying in order to challenge gender stereotypes.
The South African comedian was a guest on the season finale of Meghan Markle’s podcast Archetypes, in an episode titled “Man-ifesting A Cultural Shift”. He appeared alongside Judd Apatow and Andy Cohen.
During their conversation, the Duchess of Sussex asked Noah how men can change conversations about gender stereotypes for their own gender.
“I think first and foremost, as men, we have to grow comfortable in our vulnerability,” Noah said.
“If we exist in a space where we are perpetually portraying the stoic idea of what a man is, I think it’s limiting… and it means that we then hold only on to aggression and anger and strength and violence and we forget the balance that is needed.”
He continued: “I think many men have to become a little more comfortable understanding that they can be soft, they can be intimate, they can be kind, they can be crying. They can be all of these things and still be a great man.
“If we think we’re only going to cry when our team loses the Super Bowl or the Champions League final, that’s not enough,” Noah said, laughing. “We just have to have those conversations amongst ourselves and have them a lot more.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Noah told Markle that he wanted to be a father one day.
“I would hope to be the kind of dad… where my kid goes, ‘This was a human being who loved me and cared for me and helped prepare me for the world, but also appreciated me because they brought me into the world,’” he said.
“I want to be the kind of parent who appreciates this human being who I’ve created.”
Archetypes is on Spotify now.
