Female Rage: ‘Hysteria’ or a justifiable reaction?
By Sarah O’Connell
Photography by Elizabeth Hunt
Streams of Consciousness
Column 3
Female rage - is this hysteria or a justifiable reaction to centuries worth of oppression, violence, and misogyny? Is this rage an overreaction or simply a response to the conditions we endure as women? I would argue the latter.
There has been an increase of ‘female rage’ edits going viral on TikTok, powerful clips showing female characters expressing their rage, frustration, and pain. While these compilations contain clips of fictional characters, it is worth discussing why so many women and people affected by misogyny feel such a deep understanding of these portrayals of the female experience.
As well as these edits, popularity has increased in the satirically named ‘Girl Boss’ movies that have progressed on to become cult classics. Gone Girl is based on the hit novel, where we see a cunning female lead get her revenge on the man who destroyed her. Another is Jennifer’s Body, where we see the protagonist Megan Fox as a murderer who only kills men. And again, the movie Promising Young Woman is where we see vigilantism, in the form of a vengeful, angry woman seeking much deserved revenge on the abusers who drove her best friend to suicide. The grounding theme in these movies being revenge, justice, and rage. We can accept these movies are fiction, the characters actions may not be those we would replicate in real life; however, it begs the question: ‘Why are these female rage portrayals so cathartic to us as spectators?’ I would propose that these portrayals of the female experience vindicate women, making them feel understood and highlighting the fury we have all experienced in some form, often a result of men’s actions or the patriarchal structure. I would also argue that there is a certain type of beauty in a woman channelling all her rage and fully letting go, be it fiction or reality.
The reasoning behind this being, from a young age, girls are taught to control and suppress their emotions, to be constantly kind and perpetually pleasant. This expectation of emotional suppression and control is perfectly summed up with the quote from Maggie Royer, “woman’s first blood doesn’t come from between her legs but from biting her tongue”. This biting of the tongue can range from the need to appear pleasant in workplace dealings so as not to appear overbearing, to the inability to speak out against misogynistic comments due to the fear of the violence they will incur if they do so.
As Margaret Atwood stated, “Men are afraid women will laugh at them, women are afraid men will murder them”. Something else that makes female rage not acceptable, but cathartic, is the reasoning behind it. Men often use violence and aggression to assert their masculinity, to assure society that they are strong, they are dominant. This toxic masculinity leads to violence against women, especially sexual assault as these societal beliefs leaves men feeling a certain entitlement to a woman’s body. So, if male rage is a tool to assert their so-called superiority, and female rage is a justified reaction to that, why is female rage so demonised? Why is a legitimate reaction, a warranted emotional response, seen as the one that is deemed psychotic? Misogynists often speak of how women are too emotional, do men realise that anger is an emotion? An emotion that they themselves fail to recognise and deal with, simply resorting to violence at the first trigger.
Men are simply affirming the toxic expectations they set for themselves and continue to uphold up in their protection of the patriarchy. Women are justifiably furious that this cycle continues, their rage is not an element of toxic masculinity, it is a real reaction to the appalling conditions they endure, sharing a world with emotionally unintelligent men. For these reasons, the feminine rage feels real. Due to societal expectations women are not as quick to anger as men, yet are the ones more likely to be demonised for such visceral reactions.
As well as this, women do not receive the same allowances that men do in similar positions. Women are often judged harshly on one mistake, whereas men appear to get a myriad of chances and do-overs. This is seen time and time again in the media when comparing the lack of backlash male celebrities receive in contrast to the copious amounts of backlash a woman would receive, if embroiled in a similar scandal. This need to keep up appearances, this realization that women get less chances, is perhaps the motivation to continue this emotional suppression, as well as why it is so cathartic when a woman fully lets go of these societal expectations and gives in to her expression of anger.
A great example of this feminine rage, and how it compares to male rage is in the best-selling novel, now turned Netflix movie Luckiest Girl Alive. The story follows a young woman who experienced horrific sexual violence as well as witnessing a school shooting; following her journey on how she was shamed, and victim blamed following these incidents. This victim blaming included people going as far to push forward false claims that she was involved in the shooting as a form of revenge for these men not wanting to be in a relationship with her, when the truth was that they assaulted her. This also sheds light on the misogynistic concept of ‘hath hell no fury like a woman scorned’ coined by English playwright William Congreve. The fact that people were quicker to believe that a woman was vengeful based on lack of romance, rather than believing the truth that she was a victim of sexual assault, highlights the lack of perceived credibility women have, simply based on their gender. As well as this, the character makes multiple comments about how she needs to have the perfect image, perfect social standing, and perfect demeanour, before she can ever speak out about what happened to her. She makes clear her certainty that she will not be believed if her depiction is anything less than perfect. Again, this highlights the awareness women have of the scrutiny we are under, how we are not as bullet proof as men can be, and how society expects us to conform to this idealised standard of what a woman should be.
The book contains a powerful confrontation between her and one of her abusers, where she questions how he could have suggested her involvement in the shooting, knowing it was false. He responded, explaining he was terrified she would come forward about the sexual violence she experienced so suggested her involvement to destabilise her as a credible witness, as well as feeling a general sense of anger and injustice that he was paralysed when shot by the school shooters. The woman, portrayed by Mila Kunis, responds with an analogy, speaking about her anger, how her anger is like carbon monoxide, odourless, and completely toxic but only to her. This response means her trauma and rage is completely self-destructive and damaging but that she controls it so the only person she hurts is herself is a stark contrast to the abuser who felt anger towards the girl he abused, going as far as to blame her for his injury that she played no part in causing.
I would propose that this scene demonstrates a realistic portrayal of women’s experience. There are countless women, in every country, in every city who have experienced sexual violence, often but not always, at the hands of men. This situation of immature men taking out their anger and frustration on the people around them, not dealing with their own trauma, instead turning to hurting others, is a common observation for many women. This sense of indestructibility that certain men expect, making countless unforgivable mistakes and getting second chances, whereas their female counterparts are shunned and shamed for any mistakes that are arguably much less damaging. This was seen in the backlash director Olivia Wilde got, in relation to some negative comments she made about Florence Pugh. Whilst of course, no one’s poor behaviour can be excused, it is worth noting that Wilde received huge fallout, whereas male directors known to be sexual abusers continue to be praised in cinema.
Women are aware of this double standard that exists, and so are always cautious of doing everything right as they know they will be scrutinised for minimal acts, while men continue to act poorly yet never seem to suffer the consequences. These realisations that women gather as they grow up, creates this build up of suppressed emotions, leading women to the feeling of intense rage that can be cathartic when released. With these observations underpinning these feelings of anger, I would propose that female rage is a complete justification, a warranted reaction to their experience in the patriarchy every single day.
