The feminine rage. Something so poetic in the explosion of raw emotion from what society views as a docile gentle being. Mastering the art of keeping such deep-rooted anger buried within our souls, embodying it so that it becomes a part of us, until one day it seeps unforgivingly from us. Feminine rage is ancestral, we are born with this anger and fight as we live confined in a patriarchal reality. Yes, feminine rage is rare in its beauty but the power it holds should be something embraced and respected.
We should be filled with rage. Our bodies are policed, our daughters are trafficked and our emotions to this are disregarded. Emotions of anger are deemed as powerful or authoritative when performed by a ‘man’. But why Is it when I raise my voice or my soft tone changes sharply, I am simply asked ‘are you on your period?’. Your mother, your mothers mothers and so on, raise you to sit and be complicit because if we dare show an ounce of anger towards the oppression we face, the injustice we experience simply for being a woman we become subjected to being an irrational being. The whispers of ‘hey don’t go near her, she’s CRAZY’.
It’s time to say, f*ck this I am ‘crazy’ and my ‘crazy’ is justified.
There have been plenty of times we have seen feminine rage unfold within cinematic pieces. From Midsommar, The Handmaid’s Tail and Gone Girl. Feminine rage is displayed on a spectrum of emotions. Without a doubt, some descriptors of feminine rage in film falls short to the male gaze. Ironic. Kill Bill is a prime example of this because despite Uma Thurman playing the vengeful wife swearing revenge on assassins, her character remains in a flawless ‘sexy’ outfit whilst having a side life in a suburban home. The rage came from marriage and children, again depicted in the view of the male gaze.
The Handmaid’s Tale instead rather shows women’s refusal at forgiveness to those who harmed them. It showed feminine rage embody the characters persona and how this made women within that role calculative and unremorseful.
Female directors and writers can arguably portray feminine rage effortlessly on screen because it is something buried within them. It is a weight all women carry. A primal instinct. The female gaze placed on cinematic pieces unpacks the seething horrors of gender discrimination and sanctions on the female body. Understandably, shifting the gaze from male to female is not about filling roles by women, it is about focusing a deeper elaboration on the female experience. Feminine rage has usually been presented as a crazy mad woman, who has lost the plot and any self control she may of had left after her traumatic experience, ultimately turning her into the villain.
More recently, films such as Gone Girl have displayed feminine rage in a much cooler subtle tone. It highlights how feminine rage isn’t just us screaming and throwing things at the top of our lungs. It can be something that we express calmly and in a controlled manner. Yes as we see in Gone Girl the actions this rage amounts us to can be terrifying but its protagonist approach enables her character rather than debilitate it.
I am not advocating violence when I say to embrace feminine rage. Don’t take on the role of Uma Thurman or Rosamund Pike and go on a calculated killing spree. Embrace it in a sense that it doesn’t take a hold of you, don’t be ashamed or made to feel ashamed because you feel angry towards something because I can guarantee that it is a strong likely hood that your anger is justified. Physical anger won’t overcome oppression or resolve anything, I mean look at all the male leaders we have and the constant war or fear of war we live in. Utilise that feminine rage for advocacy for change, don’t shrink it and keep it hidden in a box within you because it makes those around you feel uncomfortable. Never let anyone invalidate your rage, your mother gave it to you and her mother gave it to her, use it.