Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Anger

In this provocative analysis, journalist and activist Chemaly describes the many reasons women have to be angry. Though early instruction in gender conventions inures girls to objectification and teaches them to swallow their anger, Chemaly writes, the list of things “stressing us out and making us angry, sick, and tired” include the gender wage gap, the risks of pregnancy and “the immense social expectations of motherhood,” pervasive sexual harassment and assault, and the normalization of pain and discomfort. Add to these the daily, constant stream of microaggressions like being interrupted, talked over, or perceived as less believable than men and the “fundamental bias” that they “are inherently less worth listening to.” Chemaly offers statistics, studies, and convincing stories to justify this rage, but where phenomena like the #MeToo movement and the women’s marches offer examples of turning collective anger into action, she dwells on the denial and backlash that occur when women try to identify or confront the “dense matrix of violence and discrimination” embedded in culture. She encourages women to cultivate “anger competence,” or owning one’s anger, with advice to develop self-awareness and finding a supportive community. Calling for a “wise anger” that can dismantle pervasive sexism and create a fundamentally democratic society, the book makes a persuasive case that angry women can achieve, not vengeance, but change. (Sept.)