Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women's Anger

The title of this book, GOOD AND MAD, drew my attention like a moth to a flame. Yes, my name is Madelon, and I answer happily to Maddy, but more often than not I hear "Hey, Mad." I have embraced the moniker as a statement of who I am and not necessarily my emotional state. And, I have been called an 'angry little woman.' How could I not read this book?Women have been trained for centuries (maybe even millennia) to suppress anger and rage. Who is doing this to women? Mostly men, but other women as well. How many times, while growing up, were you told to be "ladylike?" The Women's March was a singular, worldwide, demonstration of female anger. It took this book to tell me that white, male, American journalists were belittling the effort the very next day. How did I miss that? I was one of those very angry women. I would have marched except for the fact that I had had knee replacement surgery just 23 days prior. My sister traveled to Washington, DC and came home saying it was a life-changing experience. Maybe I missed the denigration of the women who marched because I watched more AM Joy and The Rachel Maddow Show than I did those cable news programs hosted by white men. I was angry on November 9, 2016, angry and in shock. Now, in 2018. I am as angry, if not more so, than that awful day after the election.This book is not a page turner. It evokes anger at known injustices by their very telling. It is not only a contemporary work, it is up to the minute. However, it is not just a rehashing of current events, it delves into the history of the suppression of women. If you look at the labor movement, it was started by angry women. Did they get credit for this? No. Were the black women who worked tirelessly on behalf of the march on Washington, DC, the march where Martin Luther King, Jr. made his iconic speech, allowed to address the throng? No. Were they even allowed to march with the leadership? No.Think back to 2017, January 21st to be precise. News coverage of this event did not emphasize the way women (and men) of diverse backgrounds came together to change the world. Instead, the media put forth a story of behind the scenes divisiveness within the ranks. What better way to prevent needed change than to say that those seeking reform can't even get along with each other. It is this kind of division that has allowed one-third of this country to maintain power since the writing of the Constitution. The white male minority rules because that is the way our government was formed. White women enjoy a certain supremacy by proxy so they support white men against their own better interests. When a diverse group of women come together to discuss what must happen to create a more diverse leadership in government, from municipal all the way to the White House, and the result is white women remarking that their non-white sisters are finally starting to understand them, the whole point of diversity is lost.This book will push ALL your buttons, and that is EXACTLY why you need to read it. Those pushed feminist buttons will inevitably change the world. And to Rebecca Traister I extend a hearty, and heartfelt, thanks for acknowledging that I, as a woman, have every right to be angry, and have every right to express that anger.A 5-star scale does not do a book like this justice. On a scale of 1 to 10. this book is an 11! It is a must read for women to show them that their anger is not only justified but necessary. Use that anger to fuel the big changes needed. This is a must read for men who seem clueless, who want to promulgate the notion that women only have worth if they are producing children and cooking dinner. And, this is a book for men who are ingrained with the need to join feminists, to be feminists themselves, in the fight for absolute equality. Once you have read it, I hope you will feel compelled to pass on the need to read this book to your daughters, your sons, family and friends. I know I will.Finally, you just might want to read this as an eBook. The notes contain links - very long links - to articles online. Clicking the links will take you to source material. Typing those links will try your patience.

Good and needed book that is literally helping support me and my rage as I watch the news. Timely that it was released during a week (this last week) where sexual assault survivors were mocked and ignored, old white men calling women protestors 'a mob' and (after they revealed their pain & rage) to 'grow up'. This book delves into women in politics in general, and the history of the public image of women's anger, specifically: the media portrayal, the way the anger is used to move progress, and the way divisions within women-led progressive movements are played up at the expense of the unity. This book helps provide a context for all the bizarre, seemingly unreal state of reality at present. It will also motivate you to vote, vote, vote. It also delves RIGHT AWAY into intersectionality, race and how it meshed or collided with the public face of feminism through history, at least recent history in the US. It absolutely gets into history with all the racist tea on early famous feminists, as a caution for new activists of today. But also it's about anger and women, and 'demeanor'. It is ok to be angry. Good things can come out of it. Totally worth a read and many discussions. I hope it leads to more activism and I believe it will.

I've been reading Rebecca Traister's insightful writing in New York Magazine for years. She had her finger on society's pulse with her article and subsequent book All the Single Ladies, and continues to amaze with Good and Mad. As I read, I kept buying copies for friends - it's like a movement you want to urge others to join.The book left me breathless. I learned women's history I'd never known before, including the Declaration of Sentiments. I got insights into powerful and mostly unacknowledged forces that continue to subjugate women and people of color. I was even left with hope for the future. Comprehensively researched and beautifully written, Good and Mad is an important, inspirational, and highly readable book.Traister is also a terrific public speaker. She spoke in Los Angeles in conversation with Tracee Ellis Ross, where she pointed out that once you see how the world truly is, you can't unsee it. Good and Mad will make you good and mad. - and grateful Rebecca Traister is there to show the way.

Well thought out and researched book on role of women's anger in wester cultural and political landscape leading to and just after 2016 election in the USA. The expression and driving force behind movement for justice, fairness and equality beyond feminism. Highly recomend it to all who would benefit from normalising their feeling of rage at injustice and more so who would like to chanel it to real life as a force for change and good.

A autora explora diversos temas no livro, como sexismo, racismo e xenofobia. Acima de tudo, o livro mostra como a sociedade vê de forma negativa a raiva das mulheres, enquanto a raiva masculina é muitas vezes vista como paixão e devoção.O livro é voltado mais para a história americana e analisa dois acontecimentos recentes: a eleição dos EUA de 2016 e o movimento #metoo. Porém, em muitos aspectos podemos identificar com a realidade brasileira.

A great, informative read that lays out waves of feminist activism in a very accessible way, using anecdotes and subtle and not so subtle messages that will rule you up and get right mad. You will definitely be ticked off and support change.