In Conversation with Megan Barton Hanson

Interview with Megan Barton Hanson

at White City House

During my Q&A with Megan Barton Hanson the focus was on how the media treats women in the public eye. I wanted to try to grasp how these women deal with such visceral hate on a constant basis with every aspect of their life being scrutinised. Megan was kind enough to open up about her own personal experiences. She made it clear to us that we live in a society where we expect women to fit into an unrealistic standard and then dehumanise and humiliate them when they fall below that impossible standard.

Unfortunately we learned that 90% of her hate comes from other women and it made me think about internalised misogyny and how we can encourage one another to hold each other up instead of tearing one another down. A patriarchal society benefits from internalised misogyny, its easier to keep women marginalised when we hate each other.

Even after building a successful career she is constantly scrutinised for a past that has led her to where she is today and every current choice is met with judgment. Her advice was that no matter what we do we will be looked down on so “do you” no matter what.