Every time a journalist will say: "Can women be funny? Can women be pilots? Can women be scientists?" It's less of a question and more of a statement after a while that makes you believe that maybe we can't. I think that's dangerous. I was really happy that I didn't have those barriers, but now I recognize the barriers of many other people.
Katherine RyanI do meet people from my act from time to time, They give me a little flicker of worry - 'Have I been unfair?' But I'm usually talking about a greater narrative or a scene. I'm not just destroying them personally, The Cheryl Cole bit isn't about Cheryl Cole so much as our tendency as a celebrity-consuming culture to put people on a pedestal just for what they look like. It's about us and how quickly we shift in terms of approval or disapproval.
Katherine RyanI try not to focus on politics too much - I would never be described as a hugely political woman - but the fact of the matter is, just me being a female, immigrant, stand-up comedian, single-mother ... that is political. We still live in a world where a woman with a voice is a political gesture.
Katherine Ryan