The author disputes the idea that there is something wrong with women being angry. She discusses the ways in which women have had their anger suppressed, or have suppressed it themselves, including the policing of women by other women. She suggests that anger is a powerful force, but unexpressed anger has a negative effect on women's health and wellbeing. The book is lucid and well written, though there are a few places where the use of sentence fragments jarred. The main reason this book does not get five stars is the constant insistence of dealing with things that are not about women, per se, but about other ways in which people are oppressed; while intersectionality is a valid concept and should be considered in many feminist actions, there are times when it pushes the main topic, women, out of the way in favor of other axes of oppression. Also, the author insists against all evidence that trans women are subject to the same levels of oppression that women are, and uses the godawful term ciswomen once or twice. Not awful, possibly just enough to cool the fires from activists that might target her otherwise. The main complaint is that there are a few interesting pieces of data she throws out there but leaves unexplored. One of these is the research that discovered white women tend to have more unexpressed anger and lower self-esteem than women of color...why is this? There is little to indicate the author knows, or cares. She breezes by that, introducing it as an interesting statistic that then goes away, never to be mentioned again. This is sort of like going to a movie and only getting to see the trailer. Perhaps since she is not a white woman herself, she felt she was not qualified to explain that, though my best guess is that no one is asking that question, so research on the whys has not been done. Otherwise, a book I would highly recommend, and not only to women who need to know that it's okay to be angry, but also to men who need to know that women's anger is justified in many cases, and that it is no more invalid than men's anger. ( )

This is an extraordinary book that I believe will be seen as foundational in identifying, sourcing and explaining women's rage, and for showing purposes and methods for which that rage can be used to help liberate women and girls. I encourage everyone I talk to about books to READ THIS BOOK. ( )

DNF. ( )

This is such a brilliant book! Soraya Chemaly has researched dozens of scientific studies that I never knew about. -- studies on work experience, pain tolerance, pregnancy, birth control, government, histories, and so much more.
I recommend listening to it. And if you're afraid of becoming enraged by all the information, start with the last chapter which is mostly uplifting.
We need more women in government. ( )

A little over halfway through this book, the author asks a question to the effect of: can you read a book about anger without becoming enraged? At least for me, the answer is no. Now, to be honest, I picked up this book in part because I was already annoyed, frustrated, and angry. What was great about this book was the validation it provided: it's amazing how powerful it is to have someone acknowledge your feelings and say the problems you struggle with are real and justified. This book also didn't shrink away from pointing out intersectional problems with women's anger, that some women are angry with each other, and that women can be angry about different things. I was worried when I started this book that it's relevance would be muted in the post-Trump era, but a certain New York governor proved that this book and topic are likely to be around and relevant for quite some time. ( )