{"id":3518,"date":"2016-05-12T08:40:51","date_gmt":"2016-05-12T03:10:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3518"},"modified":"2016-05-12T08:40:51","modified_gmt":"2016-05-12T03:10:51","slug":"womens-anger-in-the-age-of-me-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3518","title":{"rendered":"The Power of Women\u2019s Anger in the Age of Me Too"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cT<\/span><\/p>his book set my soul on fire.\u201d \u00a0<\/span>\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s eye-opening, liberating, and validating.\u201d<\/span>\n\n\u201cHoly. F***king. Shit. Pick up this book and read it.\u201d <\/span>\n\nOn one balmy afternoon, I was randomly surfing the internet when I ended up reading rave reviews for Soraya Chemaly\u2019s book, <\/span>Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women\u2019s Anger.<\/span><\/i> Launched in the wake of the <\/span>#MeToo<\/span><\/a> movement, women were naturally lapping it up. Yet I wasn\u2019t inclined to read the book. After all, when has women\u2019s anger had the power to change anything, I wondered. \u00a0<\/span>\n\nJust as I was about to close the tab and proceed to open another, I read what Gloria Steinem had to say about the book. \u201cHow many women cry when angry because we\u2019ve held it in for so long? How many discover that anger turned inward is depression? <\/span>Rage Becomes Her<\/span><\/i> will be good for the women and the future of this country. After all, women have a lot to be <\/span>angry<\/span><\/a> about,\u201d she wrote. <\/span>\n\nIt touched a nerve. Yes, we women are angry. And we\u2019ve been forced to suppress this anger for centuries under the weight of parental bias, misogyny, <\/span>patriarchy<\/span><\/a>, objectification, unequal pay, domestic violence, and sexual assault. For centuries, we\u2019ve been denied equality and respect. The dam was bound to burst \u2013 the internet just made it easier as we\u2019ve witnessed in the last one year.<\/span>\n\nSince October 2017, collective female rage has brought down big men \u2013 predators with power, men who have been exploiting women for years. It started with the outing of <\/span>Harvey Weinstein<\/span><\/a>. It took some time but today India\u2019s Weinsteins are not spared either. Women in Bollywood have spoken up against Alok Nath, Subhash Ghai, Sajid Khan, and Vikas Bahl, women in the media have exposed founders, CEOs, influential journalists like Anirban Blah, Ashish Patil, Vinod Dua. <\/span>\n

Only recently, Serena Williams\u2019 expression of rage during the US Open finals was casually deemed a \u201chysterical, hormonal outburst\u201d.<\/blockquote>\nThe consequences of women\u2019s rage were seen when 15 women called out former editor and Union minister <\/span>MJ Akbar<\/span><\/a> for inappropriate behaviour and sexual harassment. He tried to dismiss their anger with a mighty defamation suit. But that sort of intimidation did not work. Not this time, for their anger had peaked. Twenty more women, reputed journalists and writers, decided to testify against him. Finally, after more than a week of denying allegations and ignoring calls for his resignation, Akbar was forced to step down. <\/span>\n\nWomen and their anger had won. <\/span>\n\nWhat we are now witnessing is not only the channeling of women\u2019s rage but also its acknowledgement. For the first time, men and even <\/span>women<\/span><\/a>, who often belittle survivors, are sitting up and taking notice. But I can\u2019t help but wonder, if this will persist. If the world that we occupy will let our anger have power? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\n\nSince time immemorial, our social norms have thrived on dictating \u201cacceptable\u201d feminine behaviour. Women have been told over and over again to be docile and likeable and not angry. You see, only men can afford to be angry \u2013 their anger is, after all, a proof of their masculinity and valour. For women however, our anger is nothing but unpalatable behaviour. For instance, every time I had a disagreement with someone in the family, the first thing my mother would remind me was to not get angry and apologise instead. Each time some uncle hugged me and I felt uncomfortable, I was told, \u201cDon\u2019t make an issue\u201d, and each time a boy slapped my shoulder on way to college, I was told to keep calm and change the route. Since I was a teenager, much before the days of <\/span>#MeToo<\/span><\/a>, I wondered why was my brother never asked to tame his anger. <\/span>\n\nLast September, <\/span>Serena Williams\u2019<\/span><\/a> expression of rage during the US Open finals was casually deemed a \u201chysterical, hormonal outburst\u201d. And, closer home, Tanushree Dutta\u2019s allegations against <\/span>Nana Patekar<\/span><\/a> were excused by justifying her anger as an outcome of her \u201cperiods\u201d and \u201cbad mood\u201d.<\/span>\n
And we\u2019ve been forced to suppress this anger for centuries under the weight of parental bias, misogyny, patriarchy, objectification, unequal pay, domestic violence, and sexual assault.<\/blockquote>\nBut what it would mean to ungender anger? If women were allowed the luxury of embracing our anger, would we have healed faster?<\/span>\n\nIn her book, Chemaly seems to think so. She offers a helpful suggestion: Understand your anger, instead of suppressing it. This is exactly what we\u2019ve witnessed in India over the past three weeks. While outing their <\/span>harassers<\/span><\/a>, women across the country have been seething at the impunity that allowed the men who violated them, to go on with their lives as if nothing happened. And in doing so, women have finally been able to publicly channelise the power of their anger and use it as a balm, possibly for the first time. When actress Sandhya Mridul outed <\/span>Alok Nath<\/span><\/a> for harassment, she wrote, \u201cMy heart was pounding when I put it out there but soon the catharsis began. Keeping it bottled inside me had changed me as a person. I couldn\u2019t sleep that night, not out of fear but the lack of it.\u201d<\/span>\n\nNow that scores of <\/span>women<\/span><\/a> are acquainting themselves with initiating a relationship with their anger, instead of ignoring its presence, we can hope that our society adapts as well. That an angry women will no longer be labelled a raging bitch, as someone \u201cwho is on her period\u201d, or someone \u201cwho needs to get laid\u201d. \u00a0<\/span>\n\nAt one point in her book, Chomaly claims, \u201cAngry women burn brighter than the Sun\u201d. Here\u2019s what I want to know: Will India ever let its women\u2019s rage become her? I am not sure yet, but I am sticking around to find out. <\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since October 2017, collective female rage has brought down big men \u2013 predators with power, men who have been exploiting women for years. Men like Harvey Weinstein and MJ Akbar. But will this persist? Will the world we occupy allow our anger to have power?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":292,"featured_media":3519,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[170],"tags":[2588,6678,6679,6641],"class_list":["post-3518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gender","tag-metoo","tag-anger","tag-gloria-steinem","tag-mj-akbar"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Power of Women\u2019s Anger in the Age of Me Too<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Since October 2017, collective female rage has brought down big men \u2013 predators with power, men who have been exploiting women for years. Men like Harvey Weinstein and MJ Akbar. 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