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teaandlibri's review against another edition
2.0
This seemed like an extraordinarily fitting read given events of the past few weeks so this seemed like a timely read. It helped that I managed to snag a copy from the library sooner rather than later so it seemed like the right read for the right moment. The subtitle of "The Power of Women's Anger" made me think that this would be a good read for what women can do now and how it can be harnessed to create change.
Unfortunately that's not it. The book instead is a good look at the what rage is and how and why emotions are gendered, why unfortunate stereotypes like the "angry black woman" or "spicy Latina," exist and why a white man can yell and interrupt on national TV while a woman is called "too emotional." And so forth. Chemaly does a great job in backing this up with statistics as well as anecdotal stories from personal experience.
Like what others said: I didn't really need validation to confirm what I've already seen or know or to see this repeated to me. There was useful information and it was nice to see some things I've thought about (but could not put into words) done by Chemaly here. But sometimes the text does seem to go off in a little bit and it's only in the last chapter does Chemaly dedicate concrete actions and steps to take.
That is what I thought the book was going to be about and what I thought I was going to read, given the discussion of "power" in the subtitle. Certainly naming and defining a thing has power in itself but this would have been more helpful of a book when I was younger or maybe closer to the election. Otherwise there wasn't anything really "new" to me, here.
Which is not to say the author doesn't have good work or research here or that this wouldn't work for someone else. I think if news has made you think about anger and how different emotions are considered acceptable to be expressed by one group but not another, this might be a good read to help validate and teach.
So it definitely wasn't for me and I do think the book was mis-marketed and the subtitle is not quite correct. But it will likely have merit for someone else. Borrowed from the library and that was best for me.
Unfortunately that's not it. The book instead is a good look at the what rage is and how and why emotions are gendered, why unfortunate stereotypes like the "angry black woman" or "spicy Latina," exist and why a white man can yell and interrupt on national TV while a woman is called "too emotional." And so forth. Chemaly does a great job in backing this up with statistics as well as anecdotal stories from personal experience.
Like what others said: I didn't really need validation to confirm what I've already seen or know or to see this repeated to me. There was useful information and it was nice to see some things I've thought about (but could not put into words) done by Chemaly here. But sometimes the text does seem to go off in a little bit and it's only in the last chapter does Chemaly dedicate concrete actions and steps to take.
That is what I thought the book was going to be about and what I thought I was going to read, given the discussion of "power" in the subtitle. Certainly naming and defining a thing has power in itself but this would have been more helpful of a book when I was younger or maybe closer to the election. Otherwise there wasn't anything really "new" to me, here.
Which is not to say the author doesn't have good work or research here or that this wouldn't work for someone else. I think if news has made you think about anger and how different emotions are considered acceptable to be expressed by one group but not another, this might be a good read to help validate and teach.
So it definitely wasn't for me and I do think the book was mis-marketed and the subtitle is not quite correct. But it will likely have merit for someone else. Borrowed from the library and that was best for me.
year23's review against another edition
dark
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.0
Much of the information wasn’t new, sort of like a compilation of multiple popular studies around gender.
At the same time, some reflections and information/context brought up good questions for me as I think about how these dynamics show up/impact my life.
The one thing I found truly frustrating is that she says and uses the N word here. She’s quoting Adrienne Rich (a white woman), but it’s not necessary to use or say the word in order to get her point across. It’s shared as a stereotype but again, completely unnecessary to write or say to get the point across. The author then talks about how micro aggressions show up in all kinds of places for women and I can attest, as a Black woman, one of those was in this very book. And yeah, I was angry about it.
To then repeat the word in the audiobook is truly baffling to me. I was and am angry about it and it shows how far feminists, especially those who are not Black, have to go in actually internalizing the research and views they espouse.
I also don’t think the author offers much of a response, action, etc in working through the challenges anger bring. At one point she names - be brave! Set boundaries! Get a therapist! Rethink forgiveness! Yet much of the research she’s just espoused demonstrate that individual actions do very little in a system and environment that will punish women for those very acts. I find this short section trite honestly given the very detailed dive into the challenges anger can bring. I also grow tired of super individual focused approaches to systemic challenges. It doesn’t work. It’s why women are doing all these things and still struggling. She literally recommends team sports and then gives an example of boxing research lol. I just, it’s not substantive and I think really problematic. And she doesn’t take into account intersectionality in recommending a lot of these things - one of her recommendations is to “take your anger to work”. Good lord, can you imagine telling a Black woman to do that? She even talks about the issues Black women face at work. “If you don’t have a sponsor or ally, get one”. It’s giving “lean in” and years after the fact which I think is out of touch.
At the same time, some reflections and information/context brought up good questions for me as I think about how these dynamics show up/impact my life.
The one thing I found truly frustrating is that she says and uses the N word here. She’s quoting Adrienne Rich (a white woman), but it’s not necessary to use or say the word in order to get her point across. It’s shared as a stereotype but again, completely unnecessary to write or say to get the point across. The author then talks about how micro aggressions show up in all kinds of places for women and I can attest, as a Black woman, one of those was in this very book. And yeah, I was angry about it.
To then repeat the word in the audiobook is truly baffling to me. I was and am angry about it and it shows how far feminists, especially those who are not Black, have to go in actually internalizing the research and views they espouse.
I also don’t think the author offers much of a response, action, etc in working through the challenges anger bring. At one point she names - be brave! Set boundaries! Get a therapist! Rethink forgiveness! Yet much of the research she’s just espoused demonstrate that individual actions do very little in a system and environment that will punish women for those very acts. I find this short section trite honestly given the very detailed dive into the challenges anger can bring. I also grow tired of super individual focused approaches to systemic challenges. It doesn’t work. It’s why women are doing all these things and still struggling. She literally recommends team sports and then gives an example of boxing research lol. I just, it’s not substantive and I think really problematic. And she doesn’t take into account intersectionality in recommending a lot of these things - one of her recommendations is to “take your anger to work”. Good lord, can you imagine telling a Black woman to do that? She even talks about the issues Black women face at work. “If you don’t have a sponsor or ally, get one”. It’s giving “lean in” and years after the fact which I think is out of touch.
cebolla's review against another edition
5.0
Mind blown. There is a lot of information I already knew, and a lot of boring statistics that I don't totally trust, but this book made me once again re-evaluate my life and how I treat people.