Thursday, January 12, 2006

The Anger Project

Can we imagine a project, website and book devoted to the idea of "exploring the concept and realization of healthy anger for men and boys of all cultural background", which might "reveal the surprising benefits of anger in transforming men's lives"? How about suggesting that "Whereas diverting anger can result in a host of mental, physical and emotional problems [for men], expressing anger directly yields immediate payoffs and often sparks positive, life-altering change." Well, I guess we can imagine such a thing, but I have no doubt we can also imagine the outcry.

In short, can we imagine encouraging men to express their anger? I don't know about you, but my experience is that anger in men is pretty much universally viewed with aversion if not revulsion. An angry man is a dangerous, anti-social, unwanted man. Anger in a man is something that needs to be "managed", "controlled" or, failing that, locked away.

And yet, these people seem to think that anger needs to be encouraged in women. In my experience, many women need no encouragement to express their anger and most men are afraid to. Just take a look at this and tot up the male/female ratio for yourself.

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