Are rage rooms the answer to female anger?

A very interesting chat on Woman’s Hour looked at attitudes to female anger, and possible solutions for women who feel repressed rage to be able to express it. We want to know our readers’ thoughts on the matter.

Host Nuala McGovern spoke with therapist and author Jennifer Cox about this very emotive subject during a segment of the Radio 4 show.

Female rage is a hot topic of conversation at the moment, with TV shows such as Riot Women bringing it to the front and centre of the audience’s attention.

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“As soon as we’re born, we’re expected to fulfil very particular roles,” Jennifer explains to Nuala. Such roles include “caretaking roles” and being “the nice girl, the good girl, the polite girl.”

Jennifer explains the expectations society places on women in greater detail. “We are not the cross girl, or the one who is taking up space and standing up for herself,” she shares, as countless women likely nod in recognition.

Jennifer believes that women who carry these expectations for most of their lives, and then regularly end up “sandwiched” between the demands of work, parents and small children, often end up “furious.”

When asked by Nuala how women should be able to express and let out their rage, Jennifer has a couple of suggestions. “Talking is a good one,” she says, signposting people to the Women Are Mad podcast.

During the podcast, Jennifer and writer, Salima Saxton, invite women to talk about what makes them angry, and their other so-called “unpopular” feelings, to harness them for good.

However, Jennifer believes talking is just part of letting out supressed rage. “Conversation is the easy one,” she says, adding that we need to “get it out of our bodies.”

This is where rage rooms come in, a place to gather the rage energy and “discharge it.”

“I encourage mini rage rooms in the home,” she says, continuing, “Piling up pillows, cushions, really going for it. I think this is what we dream of as women, being able to absolutely let rip.”

Outside of a rage room you might make in your house, they really do exist up and down the country – a quick Google search brings up hundreds of results for rooms dedicated to expressing your innermost angry feelings.

On Instagram, Woman’s Hour explains, “For some women, rage rooms are the answer. They’re spaces designed for smashing and breaking things, to let your anger out.

“And demand for them is rising, with women making up 90% of their customers.”

We want to know what you think about rage rooms. Would you set one up in your home? Would you make a day of it and go out to visit one? The comments section is open and ready for your thoughts below.