Female Fear Factory: The Podcast

Award-winning cultural producer, writer and feminist activist shares her thoughts on female fear in new places, limited public spaces, urban design and woman and so much more.

Simone Zeefuik gets into everyday fears, inherited fears, work place fears, the power of community and more .

Our guest, literary advocate and Co-Founder of Soma Nami Books, Muthoni Muiruri reflects on incidences that made her feel violated, creating forms of protection for herself, shrinking public spaces, the need to push for affirmative action and creating community through Soma Nami Books. 

Finding safety in community has been a running theme through the guests we’ve spoken to on Female Fear Factory: The podcast, as with our latest guest, Sarah Ozo-Irabor, founder of Books and Rhymes and Director of AKO Caine Prize. Circling back to the incidences that happened in the church which led her to feel safe to violate, Ozo-Irabor reflects on spaces deemed safe but aren’t always, women who uphold patriarchy and so much more.

We speak to feminist writer, Minna Salami in this episode. Salami gets into her childhood experiences, the disparity in how boys and girls are raised, navigating fear and carving out fear free spaces for herself. 

What is it like growing up Black in Iran? Our guest, Priscillia Kounkou-Hoveyda paints the picture. Hit play and listen to her experience with fear, creating language and action to fight it for herself but also others through the work of her organisation, Collective of Black Iranians and more.

Our guest,  Rosebell Kagumire, Ugandan feminist powerhouse, recounts the experience that led her to feel safe to violate, and how this singular event shaped her, society’s reaction to adolescent body changes by narrowing spaces as a form of “protection” rather than focus on threats, taking control of her body image, using her platform, African Feminism to advocate for women’s rights and so much more.

In this episode, St. Lucian writer and journalist, Tresha Lionel speaks on her experience with female fear as early six years old, policing her self in her work as a journalist, the role of law enforcement in protecting women, how she is facing fear with courage and carving a fear free space through her community, Cookies and Conversations.

Female Fear Factory: The Podcast heads to St. Lucia this week! Our guest, writer, Amanie Mathurin shares her thoughts on what it means to be “safe to violate”, recounts an incidence of street harassment, fear passed on through generations and the importance of allowing one’s self to live free.

In this episode, founder of Ere Wellness, Karina Karunwi takes us back to her childhood, reflecting on growing up in an all-girl household and society’s judgement, her journey with image perception and eating disorder which inspired her business in the wellness industry.

In this episode, South African writer, poet, and singer, Natalia Molebatsi talks about her early encounter with feared spaces, inherited toxic masculinity, victim blaming, safe spaces and the power of community. 

This episode features activist, researcher and writer, Chitra Nagarajan.  In telling her story of the fear factory, Nagarajan reflects on her first experience of gender based violence from street harassment, the culture of silence, adult and child relations, what this means for young girls and more. Female Fear Factory is published by Cassava Republic Press https://bit.ly/3DqUrFn

In this episode, author, Pumla Dineo Gqola takes us through her lived experience of the fear factory. The South African academic, writer, and gender activist reflects on the inspiration behind coining “Female Fear Factory” and rape culture. Gqola illustrates how the factory works to weaponise fear as a form of control. Female Fear Factory is published by Cassava Republic Press https://bit.ly/3DqUrFn

Inspired by the book, Female Fear Factory by Pumla Dineo Gqola, this podcast is a space where people share their experience with fear inherited from the systems designed to keep certain people from stepping into the joy of their personhood. On this podcast, you will hear about when fear has hacked and when communities heal.  Female Fear Factory is published by Cassava Republic Press https://bit.ly/3DqUrFn