'I rage and I don't care': Why women are reclaiming their anger

Music artist Chess Galea says she no longer hides her anger Music artist Chess Galea used to suppress any feelings of anger, fearing she would be branded as "hysterical" or "difficult to work with". From the "mental load" women carry to sexism in the workplace or - worse - violence against women, Galea says "we don't realise how much we accept and how much we close our mouths". But now she says she simply lets it out: "If someone catcalls me in the street, I rage. I don't care." Galea, 34, is one of an increasing number of women in the UK reporting feeling angrier than ever. In 2024, one in five British women reported being angry during a lot of the previous day, external, up from one in 10 in 2020. For nearly two decades, more women than men worldwide have reported experiencing daily anger, and the gap has been growing, external. So are women actually feeling more anger - and what is driving that shift - or are they just more open about it? It's a bit of both, suggests psychotherapist Jennifer Cox, author and co-host of the Women are Mad podcast. She started researching anger after suspecting her female clients' suppression of it was the root cause of some of their physical conditions. "There was this pattern of women coming in with migraines, stomach issues, musculoskeletal and immune issues. On top of that is the "mental load", the invisible labour of keeping a household running that often falls to women. There are also more positive representations of angry women in the media. Previously, characters like Alex Forrest (played ) in Fatal Attraction or Carrie (Sissy Spacek) in Stephen King's horror classic would often be portrayed as unstable and dangerous. But today, female rage is increasingly positioned as understandable and even liberating. Characters like Alex Forrest (played ) in Fatal Attraction would often be portrayed as unstable and dangerous Take Lily Allen's 2025 album West End Girl, which graphically documented the end of her marriage to actor David Harbour, as well as artists such as Charli XCX, Olivia Rodrigo and Chappell Roan releasing songs featuring violent imagery and even screams of rage. Lily Allen's 2025 album West End Girl graphically documented the end of her marriage to actor David Harbour Singers such as Chappell Roan are releasing songs featuring violent imagery and even screams of rage