As a Gen Xer, I grew up watching John F. Kennedy Jr. and Caroline Kennedy as bona fide American celebrities. Like so many people, it was heartbreaking when JFK Jr., his wife Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and her sister Lauren Bessette died in that devastating plane crash in 1999. It still feels surreal in so many ways.

The FX limited series Love Story: John Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette has brought this young couple's story back to the forefront of public consciousness. The last episode — "Battery Park" — revisits the couple's infamous argument, and it sent me right back.

I still remember when the photos and video of that Battery Park confrontation dropped. Hard Copy, the now-defunct tabloid news show, ran the footage on a loop with breathless commentary — milking it like it was Watergate. I cannot imagine how violated and embarrassed John and Carolyn must have felt. The tabloids and paparazzi were relentless, especially toward Carolyn. She was profoundly disrespected, her private life treated as public property, in ways that feel strikingly familiar when you look at how the media has treated Duchess Meghan.

"Not much has changed in how the press treats the romantic partners and spouses of prominent men — whether they're British princes or American ones."

The parallels in the misogyny both women faced are striking. Both were scrutinized, shamed, and reduced to their relationships, while the men beside them were largely let off the hook. Carolyn's most private moments were dissected and mocked; the same has been done to Meghan. The double standard is glaring. The media's obsession with their appearances, their bodies, their behavior, their ambitions — it's a reflection of a deeper, pervasive sexism that has barely shifted.

The language used to describe them is telling. Words like "unruly," "difficult," and "emotional" echo across decades. Both women were framed as outsiders — as not quite fitting the mold of what a wife in their position should be. It's a pattern that has repeated throughout history, and it remains infuriating.

Of course, Meghan's experience carries an additional and distinct dimension: racism. The racist caricatures, the fetishization, the relentless "othering" — it represents a whole different level of vitriol, one rooted in misogynoir. That is not something Carolyn faced, and it's important to name it plainly. What Meghan has endured goes beyond sexism — it is racism, full stop, and it is disgusting.

The FX series is a reminder that history has a way of holding up a mirror. And right now, that mirror is reflecting something we still haven't fully reckoned with.

As a Gen Xer, I grew up watching John F. Kennedy Jr. and Caroline Kennedy as bona fide American celebrities. Like so many people, it was heartbreaking when JFK Jr., his wife Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and her sister Lauren Bessette died in that devastating plane crash in 1999. It still feels surreal in so many ways.

The FX limited series Love Story: John Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette has brought this young couple's story back to the forefront of public consciousness. The last episode — "Battery Park" — revisits the couple's infamous argument, and it sent me right back.

I still remember when the photos and video of that Battery Park confrontation dropped. Hard Copy, the now-defunct tabloid news show, ran the footage on a loop with breathless commentary — milking it like it was Watergate. I cannot imagine how violated and embarrassed John and Carolyn must have felt. The tabloids and paparazzi were relentless, especially toward Carolyn. She was profoundly disrespected, her private life treated as public property, in ways that feel strikingly familiar when you look at how the media has treated Duchess Meghan.

"Not much has changed in how the press treats the romantic partners and spouses of prominent men — whether they're British princes or American ones."

The parallels in the misogyny both women faced are striking. Both were scrutinized, shamed, and reduced to their relationships, while the men beside them were largely let off the hook. Carolyn's most private moments were dissected and mocked; the same has been done to Meghan. The double standard is glaring. The media's obsession with their appearances, their bodies, their behavior, their ambitions — it's a reflection of a deeper, pervasive sexism that has barely shifted.

The language used to describe them is telling. Words like "unruly," "difficult," and "emotional" echo across decades. Both women were framed as outsiders — as not quite fitting the mold of what a wife in their position should be. It's a pattern that has repeated throughout history, and it remains infuriating.

Of course, Meghan's experience carries an additional and distinct dimension: racism. The racist caricatures, the fetishization, the relentless "othering" — it represents a whole different level of vitriol, one rooted in misogynoir. That is not something Carolyn faced, and it's important to name it plainly. What Meghan has endured goes beyond sexism — it is racism, full stop, and it is disgusting.

The FX series is a reminder that history has a way of holding up a mirror. And right now, that mirror is reflecting something we still haven't fully reckoned with.