Getting Angry with Jesus

Summary

I both love and hate being angry. Since the election of our 45th president, I find I spend a disproportionate amount of my time outraged. Since the Me Too movement, I also find I spend a lot of my time outraged. And for every mass shooting that comes into our consciousness every few months or so, I again find myself….outraged.

Being a woman and being angry makes things complicated. Having been conditioned to think that men are indignant and women are hysterical, I have often tried in the past to temper my stronger emotions, particularly anger. Angry women are labeled as “shrill,” or worse. I’ve often been told that my opinions are too strong, not right, disproportionate, or straight up wrong. Even when I speak out of things from my own experience, I’m sometimes told it’s not the “right” or “correct” experience. I’ve often wondered if I would be told these things if I were a man. And sometimes my answer is “yes,” but oftentimes, it’s “no.”