FORBES WOMAN AFRICA: Why are assertive men known as bosses and bossy women known as bitches?
Anele Mdoda: It is a double-edged sword. When women get to higher positions, they harden a little and are justified in doing so, because as a woman you have to work twice as hard for half the recognition. It is easy for men to be laid-back because when a man makes a mistake, it is simply an individual making a mistake. When a woman in her individual capacity makes a mistake, then it is all women who get painted with the same brush. She is not incompetent because she made a mistake, but rather because she is a woman.
FWA: What green room conversations do the all-female cast of Bitches Be Back have about the men?
AM: We discuss men and everything else. When we did the photoshoot, conversations went from where I bought my dress to what we are going to have for lunch, Tumi’s new hairstyle and Celeste’s one-woman tour. Men think we talk about them all the time. We do not.
FWA: What qualities do you most admire in your female colleagues?
AM: Accountability, constant growth and a constant flowing river of creativity.
FWA:What do you most hate?
AM: Our eating habits.
FWA: Will a female comedian ever get a chance a la Trevor Noah? Is stand-up comedy still male-dominated?
AM: Yes we will get a chance and yes comedy is still male-dominated. Show me a profession that isn’t.
FWA: What is the most overrated thing you’ve seen?
AM: Anger on social media.
FWA: If you were to die and come back as a thing, what would that be?
AM: Water.
FWA: Your advice to women with stage fright or fear to speak up in the boardroom?
AM: If it matters to you, speak up, even if you tremble, and no one has ever died from hearing a ‘no’ so ask anyway and lastly, there is not a person on earth who is not nervous to speak publicly. NO ONE! They just conquer that demon daily.
FWA: Fifty two percent of the world’s population is female. Why is it still a man’s world?
Because women allow them.
– Interviewed by Methil Renuka