Burn it down : women writing about anger
(Book)

Editor Dancyger collects essays from 22 female writers contemplating (and unleashing) anger, continuing the #MeToo ethos of emotional transparency and righteous indignation, to bracing and powerful effect. The writers are a diverse group and cover a wide range of experiences. Samantha Riedel recalls unlearning a lifetime of aggressive masculine social conditioning after transitioning from male to female, while still harnessing the power of anger to scare off harassers and put TERFs (trans-exclusionary radical feminists) in their place. Lisa Marie Basile documents years of suffering from a chronic illness and having her symptoms minimized by doctors and friends alike, declaring her refusal to be dismissed: "There is too much beauty in being alive to silence my intuition, to ignore my body, to not sing its needs and demand they be met." Evette Dionne writes of the "angry black woman" stereotype, and how it silences women and shapes perceptions of famous African-American women such as Serena Williams. Other rage-inducing topics include intentional misgendering, religious discrimination, sexism in the classroom, and perimenopause. As Dancyger notes in her introduction, women's anger has long been trivialized and discredited, but this collection allows that anger the space to flourish. It is a cathartic and often inspiring reading experience. (Oct.)

Journalist and editor Dancyger's collection comprises essays that address subsets of female anger, including what it means to be hangry, the minimization of black women's anger by labeling it as "attitude," and the anger of women within religious contexts. What unites them are the incredible personal reflections within each essay, which reflect Dancyger's goal of showing anger as and for itself, rather than suggesting it is a means to an end, a political catalyst, or an emotion that--to be valid--must be linked to a larger purpose. Contributors include novelist and essayist Leslie Jamison; Melissa Febos, (Lambda Literary Award-winning memoirist, Abandon Me); and Evette Dionne, editor in chief, Bitch Media. Dancyger wants her readers to understand that anger is justified and/or not in need of justification because of the patriarchal structures that have shaped women's lives, voices, and sense of self. VERDICT These powerful essays strike a balance between memoir and theory and will be useful in courses on feminist theory as they provide highly individualized accounts of women's experiences.--Emily Bowles, Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison

An editor and journalist gathers 22 essays from a diverse group of contemporary women writers about the nature of modern female rage.Catapult contributing editor Dancyger creates a cathartic space for both well- and lesser-known writers to express the various ways in which their anger has manifested in their lives. The opening essay, Leslie Jamison's "Lungs Full of Burning," sets the tone for the rest of the book. For years, Jamison took pride in being "someone who wasn't prone to anger" until she realized that the sadness she often felt was really a manifestation of a rage society would not let her own. Monet Patrice Thomas follows Jamison with a discussion of how society considers angry black women to have "an attitude" and how, in general, they are allowed to feel only one emotion: fear. Reclaiming angerand an abused bodyis at the heart of Rios de la Luz's essay "Enojada," which details her experiences with sexual molestation suffered at the hands of her mother's boyfriend. In "On Transfeminine Anger," Samantha Riedel describes the rage she felt as a gender-confused boy and then in the early years of her trans womanhood, when she railed against "the forces of misogyny and transphobia" only to end up hurting people she cared about. Destructive as anger can be, Reema Zaman shows how it can also liberate. Zaman depicts the moment she stood up to her bullying husband and told him, "I was born for life beyond you." In "The Color of Being Muslim," Shaheen Pasha talks about her rage at "the suffocating expectations of others," both within and without the Pakistani American community, who saw her as being too Muslim or not Muslim enough. Powerful and provocative, this collection is an instructive read for anyone seeking to understand the many facesand painsof womanhood in 21st-century America.An incisive collection of writing about how women's anger "doesn't have to be useful to deserve a voice." Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

*Starred Review* In this razor sharp collection, a diverse team of female authors—Megan Stielstra, Leslie Jamison, Keah Brown, Melissa Febos, and Evette Dionne, among others—dissects the origins, manifestations, and purposes of their anger. The thread that binds the essays is the notion that female anger has never been condoned like male anger has. And because society rejects female anger with such fervor, it often morphs into unrecognizable shapes. One author writes about the commonality of female rage tears—crying when a man would be frothing. Another writes of her anger becoming guilt; a third of her anger becoming self-harm. Identifying as trans, Black, Latinx, Muslim, and more, authors are bound to unique sets of rules for their rage to match the intersections of their identities. The writing is brimming with frustration: why does trans female anger call womanhood into question? Why is Black female anger expected? Why is Muslim female anger equated with terrorism? Sources of contributors' anger include sexual assault, abuse, gun violence, societal pressure, and more. Contributors interrogate every facet of their anger with equal parts care and white-hot fury. Though the specifics vary, the fact that their anger has fueled their greatest writing remains true for all. Copyright 2019 Booklist Reviews.

Journalist and editor Dancyger's collection comprises essays that address subsets of female anger, including what it means to be hangry, the minimization of black women's anger by labeling it as "attitude," and the anger of women within religious contexts. What unites them are the incredible personal reflections within each essay, which reflect Dancyger's goal of showing anger as and for itself, rather than suggesting it is a means to an end, a political catalyst, or an emotion that—to be valid—must be linked to a larger purpose. Contributors include novelist and essayist Leslie Jamison; Melissa Febos, (Lambda Literary Award-winning memoirist, Abandon Me); and Evette Dionne, editor in chief, Bitch Media. Dancyger wants her readers to understand that anger is justified and/or not in need of justification because of the patriarchal structures that have shaped women's lives, voices, and sense of self. VERDICT These powerful essays strike a balance between memoir and theory and will be useful in courses on feminist theory as they provide highly individualized accounts of women's experiences.—Emily Bowles, Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison

Editor Dancyger collects essays from 22 female writers contemplating (and unleashing) anger, continuing the #MeToo ethos of emotional transparency and righteous indignation, to bracing and powerful effect. The writers are a diverse group and cover a wide range of experiences. Samantha Riedel recalls unlearning a lifetime of aggressive masculine social conditioning after transitioning from male to female, while still harnessing the power of anger to scare off harassers and put TERFs (trans-exclusionary radical feminists) in their place. Lisa Marie Basile documents years of suffering from a chronic illness and having her symptoms minimized by doctors and friends alike, declaring her refusal to be dismissed: "There is too much beauty in being alive to silence my intuition, to ignore my body, to not sing its needs and demand they be met." Evette Dionne writes of the "angry black woman" stereotype, and how it silences women and shapes perceptions of famous African-American women such as Serena Williams. Other rage-inducing topics include intentional misgendering, religious discrimination, sexism in the classroom, and perimenopause. As Dancyger notes in her introduction, women's anger has long been trivialized and discredited, but this collection allows that anger the space to flourish. It is a cathartic and often inspiring reading experience. (Oct.)