Who Benefits When Women Make Themselves Smaller? | For Mannerless Women

Who benefits when women believe they are too loud, too angry, too ambitious or simply too much?
This week on For Mannerless Women, Adelle sits down with feminist activist and Executive Director of Dada Collective Network, Zaha Indimuli, for a conversation about the many ways women are taught to make themselves smaller and what becomes possible when we refuse.
They unpack respectability politics, self-censorship and how constantly being told to “tone it down” can eventually affect more than how we communicate. It can shape our ambitions, our desires and how much space we believe we are allowed to occupy. Zaha also shares why self-love, joy and rest can be acts of rebellion, how anger and love can both have a place in activism, and why sisterhood can become a powerful force for collective change. The conversation also explores women’s political power, organizing around End Femicide Kenya, the barriers women face when participating in politics and what could become possible when more women recognize the power of organizing collectively.
In this episode:

• The hidden impact of constantly being told to “tone it down”
• Why women learn to self-censor and minimize themselves
• Respectability politics and the fear of being “too much”
• Why self-love, joy and rest can be acts of rebellion
• Anger, love and sustaining activism
• Women who become gatekeepers of patriarchy
• The healing and political power of sisterhood
• Organizing around End Femicide Kenya
• The barriers women face in political participation
• Building collective political power among Kenyan women

CONNECT WITH ZAHA INDIMULI
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zaha.speaks
TikTok: @zaha.speaks
LinkedIn: Zaha Indimuli
Dada Collective Network:
https://dada-collective.network/
End Femicide Kenya:
https://www.instagram.com/endfemicideke
FOR MANNERLESS WOMEN
For Mannerless Women is a space committed to nurturing a new generation of shame-free African women.
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