We recently shared a reflection from David Rice about the need for empathy and openness in a culture marked by division. Often, though, calls for 鈥渃ivility鈥� are used to silence or negate feelings of grief and anger directed toward historic, pervasive harm and injustice. As social movements like #MeToo and #TimesUp give voice to those feelings鈥攑articularly women鈥檚 anger鈥攚e are witnessing fierce backlash from a system that has long sought to stifle and condemn feminine anger. Here, Assistant Instructor Jennifer Fernandez writes that anger is not just a social or political necessity; it is in line with a long line of prophetic theological thought that speaks truth to power and celebrates the dignity and humanity of all.
As a PhD student it鈥檚 rare for me to pick up a book at a bookstore that鈥檚 鈥渇or fun.鈥� Don鈥檛 get me wrong, the work I鈥檓 doing for my PhD is a certain kind of fun, but it鈥檚 a fun that makes for a lot less leisurely reading. That said, on a recent trip to a bookstore my eye was drawn to the new nonfiction table and a fire engine red book jacket that read in blazing white letters, 鈥�.鈥� Uhm鈥es please.
Flipping through the book I was reminded of a comment I made recently in Dr. Kj Swanson鈥檚 鈥淕od, Gender, & Sexuality鈥� class when talking about some of the queer and feminist theologies we had assigned. I said something along the lines of 鈥淩eading this stuff should make you angry,鈥� and what followed was a cathartic expression from a few of the women in class about the tears they shed, the frustration they felt, and the resilience they found when doing the week鈥檚 reading. Another book released just this month, rounds out this year鈥檚 publications on the topic, with having opened the year. There definitely seemed to be a theme forming.
And so, as I look through my newsfeed filled with protests, marches, and hashtags and as I witness the litany of books and articles being written on the subject, I think it鈥檚 important to name that current expressions of women鈥檚 anger aren鈥檛 just something political or cultural, they鈥檙e theological. Women are making use of their prophetic voices to point to larger issues of dignity, worth, respect, and they are pointing to these issues with rage and frustration because for too long they have been told to be passive and deferential, and for too long they have been prisoners to a system they didn鈥檛 create and which never accounted for the fullness of their humanity.
There is an abundance of women throughout history that have done amazing prophetical work beyond those who have been historically pointed to, and I believe that we are witnessing some of that powerful prophetic work today. As we look at the Kavanaugh hearing protests, at the multitude of #Metoo and #TimesUp posts, and as we look at how women continue to march across the globe for reproductive justice, racial equality, and other human dignities, I contend that women are using their anger to strengthen their prophetic voices. They are demanding the reconstruction of human relations, and that鈥檚 powerful stuff. It鈥檚 also dangerous stuff if you鈥檙e in the crosshairs. In Rage Becomes Her author Soraya Chemaly explains, 鈥淲omen鈥檚 anger is usually disparaged in virtually all arenas, except those in which anger confirms gender-role stereotypes about women as nurturers and reproductive agents. This means we are allowed to be angry but not on our own behalves. If a woman is angry in her 鈥榩lace,鈥� as a mother or a teacher, for example, she is respected, and her anger is generally understood and acceptable. If however, she transgresses and is angry in what is thought of as a men鈥檚 arena鈥攕uch as traditional politics or the workplace鈥攕he is almost always penalized in some way.鈥�1 We鈥檝e been witness to this penalization time and again, most recently in the mocking of a sexual assault victim and countless victims like her during a political rally.
鈥淲omen are using their anger to strengthen their prophetic voices. They are demanding the reconstruction of human relations.鈥�
In Sexism and God-Talk Rosemary Radford Ruether explains that 鈥渇eminism sees what male prophetic thought had not seen: that once the prophetic norm is asserted to be central to Biblical faith, then patriarchy can no longer be maintained as authoritative.鈥�2 There is something at work in the current expressions of women鈥檚 anger, something to be in awe of because it points to something huge. Argentinian social scientist Ver贸nica Gago examines the power of protest, specifically those of women in light of the rampant femicides in Buenos Aires. Part of the Ni Una Menos (Not One More) movement, Gago explains that the global surge of women鈥檚 movements can be directly correlated to issues of economic and social justice. Further, current women鈥檚 movements offer a radical critique to the paternalism found in old ways of understanding how we are to care for one another. Women therefore, through their anger, are pointing beyond patriarchal distortions towards a vision of the world where everyone is heard, and seen, and where all can thrive.
As a culture we鈥檝e been conditioned to see anger as something destructive, poisonous, and ultimately harmful, and it certainly can be all those things. I and others writing about women鈥檚 anger aren鈥檛 ignorant to the ways that as an emotion, anger can scorch and burn. But for women, anger can be a matter of epistemic justice鈥攚e know what we feel, and we should get to feel it鈥攁nd what鈥檚 more, we should get to express it. Again, as Chemaly explains, 鈥淎nger has a bad rap, but is actually one of the most hopeful and forward thinking of all our emotions. It begets transformation, manifesting our passion and keeping us invested in the world. It is a rational and emotional response to trespass, violation, and moral disorder. It bridges the divide between what 鈥榠s鈥� and what 鈥榦ught鈥� to be, between a difficult past and an improved possibility.鈥�3 Let us move forward in these troubled times allowing for all the feelings鈥攖he hope, the despair, and the anger friends, for in doing so we make full use of our prophetic voices, allowing for the divine to break forth with searing brilliance.
1Soraya L. Chemaly, Rage Becomes Her: the Power of Women’s Anger (New York: Atria Books, 2018), xvii.
2Rosemary Radford Ruether, Sexism and God-talk: Toward a Feminist Theology, 10th ed. (Boston: Beacon Press, 1993), 24.
3Chemaly, xx.