In another place, she narrates an incident about how her husband, oblivious to the discomfort of their daughters and herself, chose a route which felt “unsafe ” pointing out that men are clueless about our lives as women, and that this itself can become a source of anger and frustration for many women. We take risks when we report sexual harassment, assault and domestic violence. We take risks every time we get pregnant. We take risks when we can’t pay for gyms (in lieu of exercising outside), taxis or car services, and other pricey ‘safety’ measures. We take risks when we post our profiles on dating websites and meet up with strangers. It is especially commendable how she places men, front and center, as the cause of a woman’s troubles - “we don’t seriously address the risks women must take as they navigate boys and men. This includes both issues at a global level, such as the wage gap, or high rates of violence against women or issues at the individual level, such as the unrealistic expectations from women as mothers, wives and caregivers, which have consequences that go beyond the personal–proving that in today’s world, the personal is indeed political.
In each of its chapters, it explores a different facet of a woman’s life, and discusses the injustices that, unsurprisingly, cause women to feel provoked. Never miss real stories from India's women. The book however does not limit its scope to rage born out of sexual harassment or the silencing of women who are sharing their #MeToo stories. We have witnessed again and again, over the past few weeks, that the women who are courageously sharing their pain, are accused of destroying the lives of “innocent men” or men who “just made a mistake.” The #MeToo movement then is not just a campaign against sexual harassment, but it is a rebellion against, as Chemaly puts it, “the injustice of having one’s social experience denied and hidden from communal understanding.” Criticisms about the “tone” of their voice are used to trash their entire message. It was also Navaratri, and the image of Maa Kali –raging, bent upon destroying injustice, loomed large in my imagination.Īs Soraya Chemaly points out, women who speak up against their harassers are constantly gaslighted.
It was coincidental that the #MeToo movement in India picked up steam just around the time that I was reading Soraya Chemaly’s book, Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Anger.
Women’s anger spilling out in #MeToo stories
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