Meghan Markle jetted off to the South by Southwest (SXSW) Festival in Texas to talk about her efforts to “challenge stereotypes”.
Meghan Markle took centre stage as she joined actress Brooke Shield and US veteran reporter Katie Couric for a special panel at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Festival in Texas.
The Duchess of Sussex joined the line-up for the International Women’s Day event kicking off the Austin festival as a “visionary female leader” and bestselling author.
The event was presented by Meghan and Prince Harry’s Archewell Organization in collaboration with The 19th – a non-profit newsroom reporting on politics, policy and gender.
During the panel, the Duchess opened up about her own experience with bullying as she insisted more has to be done to create online safeguarding measures.
The Duchess of Sussex spoke about the harassment she has faced across multiple social media platforms, admitting the “worst of the bullying” came when she was pregnant with her children – Prince Archie Harrison and Princess Lilibet Diana.
Meghan said: “It’s really interesting because I can reflect on it, I keep my distance from [social media] right now, for my own wellbeing.
“The bulk of the bullying and abuse that I was experiencing on social media and online was when I was pregnant with Archie and with Lili, and [when] they were born.
“And you just think about that and you [struggle] to wrap your head around why people would be so hateful. It’s not catty, it’s cruel.”
The panel, titled Breaking Barriers, Shaping Narratives: How Women Lead On and Off the Screen, kicked off with Meghan discussing joining actress Geena Davis and Moms First to help raise awareness about the way mothers are depicted on television.
Meghan said: “The Geena Davis Institute and Moms First released this report and my husband and I, our foundation Archewell, helped to fund it because from our standpoint – certainly from mine – there are three key reasons why it felt vital to see the information they were going to be pulling through this report.
“On a personal level, I always loved understanding women and our stories and our lived experiences and our shared experiences, so I was really curious to see what the report was going to uncover in terms of…oftentimes women, the way we see ourselves is reflected back to us.
“Sometimes accurately and sometimes, much to our disservice, inaccurately in what we see in media. So to be able to have the findings to uncover what we can do propel that, to make sure women are really feeling seen in a way that is reflecting of who and how we are.”
The panel also discussed the dangers and mental health issues facing teenage girls who regularly use social media platforms.
Her keynote speech falls in line with Meghan and Harry’s efforts to raise awareness about the need for stricter regulation to protect younger users from the dangers of social media.
The pair earlier this year warned that the “best parenting in the world cannot keep children safe from these platforms”.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex released a surprise statement in February after chief executives from several social media giants testified in front of parents who lost their children because of online harm.
Source: https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1875374/meghan-markle-speech-sxsw-breaking-barriers