The Female Rage Era: Why We’re Not Smiling Through it Anymore

The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.

The end of politeness: Why Women Are Finally Speaking Up

Instead of repressing and containing ourselves, we are ready to use anger as a tool to protect us from injustice.

Since the dawn of time, when human beings began to seek meaning in their existence, expressions of the female figure have been demonized and transformed into symbols used to hold women responsible for whatever was wrong in the world. The first woman, Eve, gave in to the temptation to eat the forbidden fruit and “brought sin into the world”. Pandora disobeyed the order telling her not to open the box and unleashed all the evils of the world. The Trojan princess, Cassandra, was cursed with the gift of prophecies that no one would believe and blamed for the fall of her kingdom.

In addition to being blamed, these characters had their emotions and anguish repressed as an example of the involuntary submission imposed by patriarchal society. It’s the perfect cage. Women are seen as emotional beings, but an emotion such as anger is constantly dismissed as irrational, exaggerated and hysterical. Only men are allowed and encouraged to express it, because, when women do, it goes against femininity. These beliefs are used to bind us to the idea that we behave when we don’t shout. 

women and their own feelings

Women have dealt with emotions being suppressed for many generations. From early childhood, we’re taught that anger is a feeling that doesn’t belong to us, so it should be channeled into more socially acceptable feelings like sadness and fear. You can’t crash out, you can’t lose your composure. A more assertive or over-the-top word is enough to be stamped with the stigma of “the crazy one”.

However, art and fiction have become increasingly interested in questioning and subverting the social power dynamics that prevent women from expressing their anger in its most raw and visceral form. The “final girl” trope, commonly used in slasher films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and Scream (1996), describes the last woman standing, the one who survives and strikes the final blow to the killer.

The dark humor employed in Promising Young Woman, that explores the impacts of sexual violence and silencing victims. Angela Basset’s palpable suffering after the loss of her eldest son in Wakanda Forever. In Animal, author Lisa Tadeo‘s debut novel, a woman breaks away from a male-dominated society by pursuing the traumas of her past. Or even Margaret Atwood’s dystopian thriller Handmaid’s Tale, where rage becomes a catalyst for rebellions against oppressive regimes. The list just keeps growing each day that passes. 

In these works, women confront male domination head-on, breaking away from traditional feminine roles and, at times, killing their abusers. Fueled by unfiltered rage, they unleash the fury built up from a lifetime under a system that demands their silence, one that punishes any deviation from the prescribed performance of their gender identity. Alice Cappelle, author and youtuber, explains in her video ‘Why female rage is here to stay.

“Female characters [in fiction] are becoming increasingly more complex. We’re progressively stepping away from the innocent woman versus strong woman binary to explore what it means to be an average woman.”

Different women, different expressions

It’s worth mentioning that different cultural backgrounds have specific influences on each woman’s expression of anger, but the media seems to focus mainly on white female rage. The more intersectional a woman’s identity, the more her anger is perceived as threatening by oppressors and the less it is accepted. Recognizing these complexities is essential to create inclusive dialogues around the diverse experiences of all women with rage. 

But how can we express ourselves and turn anger into something productive?

“Political action is the answer to female rage. Supporting feminist organizations, protesting and sharing anger with other women. Educating yourself and others on the topic.”, Cappelle defends. 

We will no longer tolerate the imposition of sadness, or even apathy, as a form of patriarchal control. Embracing female rage may intimidate and threat societal power dynamics, so it will remain as a vital aspect of the pursuit for gender equality and social justice. Let them hear our pain and fear us

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The article above was edited by Sarah Pizarro.

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