A review by erinlynum
Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger by Soraya Chemaly

5.0

I strongly recommend this book. With Chemaly's seamless writing, I related strongly to what she shared as a woman. The tears to express anger, how anger can turn to gossip and social policing among women, how women are expected to follow gender norms and shock the established system when they push back. I have read quite a few women's studies books and this one taught me quite a few new details, such as the "intimacy discount," when men receive shorter sentencing after assaulting acquaintances and family as opposed to strangers. I appreciated Chemaly's comment that we are so busy teaching girls and women to smile that we forget to teach them they deserve respect. I found her writing about her great-grandfather to be so relatable and enraging, with family dynamics that didn't appreciate her great-grandmother's role and no one standing up to her great-grandmother's negative treatment by her great-grandfather. "Why was he allowed to live freely in the wake of her wreckage?" That is such a powerful quote. We have so much to learn from the women who came before us. I learned a lot and was inspired by the ending of the book, encouraging women to use their anger for progress.