Did you feel it last Sunday? Did you feel the world shift?
President Biden withdrew from the campaign and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee. Within hours, record amounts of money poured into her campaign—$250 million in about 18 hours, including contributions from almost 900,000 small donors. Endorsements flew in: Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus, AAPI Victory Fund, eight labor union groups representing millions of workers in the trades and education. By Monday night, she had far more than enough delegates to secure the nomination.
It was an impressive display of unity and organization across the party’s various apparatuses. Clearly, the Dems had the fundraising texts teed up and ready to go, as well as a press and social media blizzard. Most impressive to me, however, was the instantaneous avalanche of social media celebrations of Harris herself, all created by regular people.
What’s going on?
Well, I’ll tell you what I felt: a sudden, joyous release of anger. I’m certain I’m not alone. Let me assure you: women have a LOT of pent-up anger in this country.
Here’s an example of a cartoon expressing that anger:
Every woman who has ever been assaulted, insulted, disrespected, underestimated, afraid, denied, condescended to, trapped, threatened, sneered at, leered at—we have all been living with our anger. (To be clear, I have not personally been physically assaulted, but everything else in that list: sure.) We have watched men (including in churches) get away with abuse for years. We have watched men run exploitative global companies and rake in profits while sacrificing people and planet. We have watched women who are smarter and more qualified still lose to the much less worthy male candidate. We have watched men who assume they are right-er than others grab power and ruin things we love. We have watched in horror as men who think they deserve authority just for being cocky threaten to take away rights and opportunities that women have clawed for. Oh yes, we are angry.
And so right now, in a burst of released anger-turned-hope, we celebrate powerful and honorable women.
Often women live with anger without even knowing it. After all, if you express it, you’re punished by being called a bi**h. When I was in tenth grade, a senior boy asked me to the prom. I agreed to go. It was OK. Afterwards, he asked to kiss me. I said no—I didn’t feel that way about him, and I wanted my kisses to be honest. I guess he deserves some credit for not forcing me (why do I have to give him credit for that?). But he got his revenge: he took my yearbook and wrote a nasty, crude “poem” across the whole back page, the gist of which was, You should appreciate that I didn’t demand more. What did I do about it? Nothing. What could I do? I didn’t even understand how insulting and misogynist that kid was. Who taught him to think I “owed” him and that he could write that stuff in the yearbook of a 15-year-old girl? I hope he’s straightened up since then. But the “poem” is there to this day, in ink. And now I know enough to be angry.
It’s interesting to me how close to the surface my anger has been this summer, just underneath that thick layer of depression. And I’ve lived a charmed life! I’ve avoided most of the serious horrors women suffer and obstacles women face. I am so lucky/blessed to have many good and wise and funny and supportive men in my life, including the one I’m married to. Still, living in a woman’s body is a different experience from living in a man’s. For that reason, women do often feel a sense of solidarity with other women—young and old, of every race and class. As even the luckiest of us know, it’s not just the big, bad things. The subtle things build up, too.
Ron and I went to see the new movie Twisters this past weekend. I came out of the theater furious. Why? After all, the special effects were cool! Here’s why: even though the movie is supposed to have a female protagonist, the whole story was about the male gaze. Same old thing. We’re supposed to care about this doe-eyed, tiny blond “scientist” with a spark of adorable spunk—who is totally unbelievable as a tornado chaser and, frankly, uninteresting. Never mind: the camera lingers longingly over her, silhouetted against the stormy sky. Enter a swaggering, chisel-jawed dude with a big belt buckle who leers at her, condescends to her, all but calls her “little lady.” She wants to “tame” tornados, while he wants to “wrangle” them. Oof. At first she puts him off, but by the end, she realizes he has a heart of gold and… she falls for him. Of course she does. Gag.
No big deal, I know. The anger that boiled up in me this past weekend is not really about the movie. The movie just helped trigger everything else, from what’s happening to the institutions I’ve personally served all the way to the machinations of global politics. You keep it tamped down just to get through the day, but sometimes, it slams you. Last fall, I was chastised by a male authority figure and, in a moment of empathy, he said, “I know it’s hard to be the mature one when others are behaving badly.” I replied: “Oh, I’ve been swallowing anger all my life. That’s nothing new.”
Well. I think what we’re seeing right now, in the wake of Harris’s rise to the top of the ticket, is anger released into energy. Joyous energy. I love seeing men joining into this as well. Good and wise men have been angry, too, and they also rejoice for their mothers and aunties and wives and sisters and daughters. They want a better world for women, because that’s a better world for all of us.
It’s a lot to bear for Harris—all these expectations, all the responsibility to carry this joyous energy to an election victory and not screw up. But it’s not all on her. Millions of people, clearly, have been waiting to put their energy and hope into change. Harris just has to ride that wave well. And put up with a whole lotta ugly that’s coming her way fast.
Obviously, I’m not saying all women are wonderful and all men are bad. That is not the case, and besides, I’m a Calvinist, so of course all have sinned, and so on. But let’s admit that we’ve seen a lot of bad men get away with a lot lately. Millions of us are well and truly fed up. It’s time for a reckoning and some positive change. I hope we can do it with dignity and justice.
Here’s my favorite TikTok from the past week. Maya Angelou reads her poem “Still I Rise” while we see images of Taylor Swift, Simone Biles, Malala, Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks, Greta Gerwig, Beyoncé, Oprah, and many more. This little video captures what so many of us feel: pride in all that women have accomplished against tough odds, and hope that we are witnessing (and creating!) a moment of huge change. The world can shift.
Image credit: Noah Berger/AFP via Getty Images/npr.org
Oh. My. Goodness. Raw truth. Searing and honest. Thank-you.
Your reader notes well and is both challenged and thrilled.
Yes, Deb, a feeling of pent-up anger being released into a hopeful energy. Thank you for expressing so well what I’ve been feeling without even knowing it.
O my, Debra, thank you, from every piece of my being, thank you!!!
My formative years, high school and college (the 1970’s), were during the rise of what I refer to as “old school feminism.” During that time I bought a t-shirt that reads ” I’ll be a post feminist in the post patriarchy”. Tucked in a drawer it has been with me all these years.
And the church gets no pass here. By pure chance ( or more likely providence) I attended the RCA General Synod in 1979 at Hope College, when my beloved denomination affirmed publicly ,for the first time,the God given gifts of women as Ministers of Word and Sacrament.
The past decade has seen a proponderance of “back sliding” where the treatment and acceptance of female gendered human beings is concerned.
In conversations with people who long to return to what is imagined as a better time, I often ask “At what time was America great? And for who?”
Time to wear that t-shirt again. Proudly. Boldly. With hope, and yes maybe a feeling of joy.
Thank you for saying out loud the truth of what many are experiencing, and for listening to mine.
Yes to that Tshirt!
AMEN!!
Thank you for putting into words what I felt last Sunday…and as one of those angry women…thank you for all of this.
I had forgotten what hope felt like!
Thank you for voicing it. It will feel like pure justice if Kamala defeats him. “And the world is about to turn!” (From My Soul Cries Out with a Joyful Shout LUYH 69)
💯
Thank-you Deb! 💯
I’m glad you mentioned there are men who are angry too in support of women whose justified anger has had to be suppressed. I support you. I’m still angry that eight years ago Hilary Clinton won the popular vote, but Trump won the presidency with more electoral college votes (due, in part, to state gerrymandering). I was ready in 2016 for history to be made, the election of the first woman as President. Following Obama’s election as the first non-white man, I was ready for a second history-making presidential election, which would have symbolized a thriving democracy where anyone can become President, and everyone is equal under the law. Well, we now have a second chance. Let’s turn our anger into a positive force that moves American democracy forward. With our votes, let’s topple the power of old, white men! WAIT! I’m one of them! But I gladly relinquish my ill-gotten power. Thanks, Debra, for your courageous transparency. I applaud you.
I’m so sorry for my role in this. And I can do better. We all can.
Thankful for your courage to speak for what so many of us are feeling.
Thank you, Deb, for articulating our collective anger so effectively. I was always dubbed a “tomboy” growing up, just because I wanted to play organized sports (there were none for girls, not even for “tomboys”). In high school there were a few teams for girls, but we wore second-hand uniforms, practiced after all the boys team were done, and drove ourselves to our away contests. Our high school fight song began with “Oh we are stellar MEN of Christian …” Yep, that summed up my high school experience.
Yes to all of the above. But if the election were held today, she would lose. It’s closer than it was two weeks ago, but two weeks ago it wasn’t close. What worries me is that all of the misogny was public 8 years ago–“nasty woman,” “lock her up,” Access Hollywood tape. And on Election Day, HC had a higher probability of winning than KH does today. I hope the sands will continue to shift, but they might not. I want someone to convince me that the level of anger is higher than in 2016 (this essay does this well) AND that it will translate into something other than the result in 2016 (still waiting for this evidence). Hopeful…
We have plenty of time to shore up the needed votes in the needed states. Everyone who wants Harris to be the next president needs to reach out to others, especially their younger friends, encouraging them to vote for the common good and for the wellbeing of future generations.
Anger is the devils cocaine
Some anger. In this case it is an expression of the hunger and thirst for righteousness which Jesus blessed and himself expressed in his words and actions towards the religious leaders of his day.
Amen!!
Well said Marchiene!
Anger alerts us to injustice and energizes us to seek change.
It can also cloud your judgment. KH is a very bad candidate. I expect that no matter who wins we’re in for the worst four years of leadership I’ve seen in my lifetime. And, given the last 8 years, that’s saying something.
In this case, I think your judgement is a bit clouded, Tom. The Biden presidency has been historically the best presidency in many years! He got us out of the pandemic with vaccinations galore( I think I’ve had 5!) and gave schools the help they needed to get kids back in school even with Covid still raging, created many new jobs with infrastructure bill, caps bill and clean energy bill, tried to pass a bipartisan immigration bill that was blocked by MAGA Trumpers, tried to give student loan debt to many, raised the income of many families with young children out of poverty, tried to continue the assault weapon ban and enact other gun safety measures, strengthened NATO, etc. Are you forgetting all of this? Harris can claim all of this as part of her record too- Hilary could not do so since she did not hold the position of Vice President before she ran and besides that now everyone should know all the damage a Trump presidency can do, and also now he has been shown to what we all suspected he was 8 years ago; a felon.
Easy for you to say, Tom. As a presumably white male you have had the PRIVILEGE, like me, not to experience gender-based degradation and therefore the anger that naturally follows.
Yes, and thanks for noting this.
Not speaking for about any individual, but just as a general point, this response reflects an unrealistic view of the way our sense of injustice–and the anger it often provokes–operates. Many men I know are husbands of wives and fathers of daughters; all are the sons of mothers and neighbors of women. To assume that because a man isn’t in the precise position of those women he is therefore unconcerned about their welfare or that he isn’t angered at the things that threaten it defies experience.
We live in a complicated world, and one of the simpler methods of navigating it–a flat-footed identitarianism, where a person’s position on a matter is reduced to their sex, class, and race–is a very popular option. It allows us to skip the hard work of determining if and why a person we disagree with is wrong, and cut straight to their biology as an excuse to dismiss their contribution.
Besides it being untrue to experience, its very simplicity and reductionism ought to raise more than a few red flags in the mind.
I applaud every word you wrote and am so grateful for your courage and clarity and the hard hitting truths you share so skillfully!
With you all the way with all the other angry but hopeful women working together for a world where justice and equality for women is the norm not the exception! I believe the great and good shift is happening.
I wonder if you would feel the same way if it was a conservative women. I have no problems with a woman president, as long as she is capable and qualified.
Your “as long as” disclaimer makes me angry.
Cheney perhaps, or Murkowski. I’d have a hard time supporting anyone else currently posing as an actual conservative.
Yes! Yes! Yes!
Most awesome read. I’m posting this to Facebook because it’s very important for all to see.
Thank you, sister!
Yes! You have named the thing that’s been balled up inside me as well! Thank you for these powerful words.
Thanks for your supportive words, everyone. The difference between now and eight years ago is, among other things, eight more years’ worth of young voters. Let’s tell them we understand their anger, tell them our stories, and get them to vote!
My spouse, with characteristic sagacity, has pointed out to me that the message a Democrat Party needs to get out there is for women not to allow themselves to be directed by their husbands or fathers
as to which candidate they should vote for in the upcoming presidential election. What one does in the voting booth is one’s own private business. No explanations needed either before or after. Fury can be expressed in subtle ways can it not?
Hallelujah!
Thanks, Debra!
Good time to recall a lot of those “angry women” are Republicans, however. And the gender dynamics among the electorate aren’t entirely favorable to Harris.
Trump won a larger share of women’s votes in 2020 than in 2016 (44% vs. 39%). Are these female voters who want a man at the top? Can’t be sure.
In 2016, Trump beat Clinton among male voters by 11 points; in 2020, Trump and Biden evenly divided the male vote. Some important share among those voters can be assumed to be men who just won’t vote for a woman at the top of the ticket, and we should expect Harris to therefore lose them if that holds true.
It’s possible there are Black voters who will be more excited about Harris than they were about Biden, and the Black vote is now 14% of the electorate, larger than it’s ever been (but only .5% above 2020). But there’s really not a lot of room for any Democrat to improve their share of the Black vote, which has held steady for the Democrats at the low 90s for years now.
In sum, we can assume Harris will do better than Biden would have done, but this is still a very close race.
I felt the seismic shift. I felt hope again. And a burst of energy I haven’t had in a long time. Now to get to work!
While I care about justice (retired lawyer), I no longer care about dignity. I’m ready to get down in the trenches! And I can teach you drywall repair.
Thanks for saying it so well.
Oh, my. Thank you!
Hear, hear!!
I am a conservative woman but do not share your anger at men that comes through in your post. I have experienced abuse by both men and women but that doesn’t mean I hate all men and women. Have you taken the time to research the background of the candidate? She also has skeletons in her closet. Do you know how she would govern? Check out her record when she was in California and in the Senate. Do you agree with her decisions? Re your lament on the movie you went to see -what do you expect to come out of Hollywood? You don’t get fresh food from a cesspool.
Hmm, let’s see. She’s not a felon. She hasn’t cheated on multiple spouses. She can speak in coherent sentences. She isn’t demanding total immunity as a cover for criminal behavior. She seems to have a moral center. No contest.
One need not defend Trump and his identity “angry white male” politics to see the flaws of “angry white female” politics on the other side.
Yes! Thank you!
Please write more of this! I know that campaigns are confined by money and media (sort of the same thing), but I’m waiting for her chance to tell us how we will tax wealth, reign in greed, control technological power over our lives, and reign in the most devastating military/murder for-profit industry in world history. (As an aside: it is past time for followers of an empire-crucified Savior who once identified our choices as “God or Money” to speak up. My father, whom I did not meet until I was 2 years old, and whose b/w photos of his liberation of Buchenwald he would never speak of, called me at the beginning of Judy and my ministry in South-Central Los Angeles in 1980 to say “if that man [Ronald Reagan] is elected, this country will be enslaved to greed for generations.” This, from an 8th-grade-educated person who tended to vote Republican.). Say more, Professor Rienstra! Oh…thank you!
Wowza! Thanks for articulating what has been true for myself and so many I know!
In 2024 American women have longer life expectancies, significantly higher rates of education and far lower rates of incarceration and suicide. Yet the white liberal professor feels that she’s a victim who deserves to be “angry”.
Her essay is not about life expectancy, education, incarceration, or suicide, though, is it? She clearly states that this anger springs from women’s being far too often assaulted, insulted, disrespected, underestimated, afraid, denied, condescended to, trapped, threatened, sneered at, and leered at.
Instead of responding with (a condescending) straw-man argument that denies her (and many women’s, including mine) experience and puts “angry” in scare quotes, why not reflect on her words and learn what other people’s experiences are too often like?
Thank you Debra, I appreciate your honesty and vulnerability. You are a prophet; hmm, they were angry too.
I’m with you, Debra. Thank you!
I watched Kamala’s remarks after Biden stepped aside from a cottage in Ontario with my five sisters–all Canadians though a couple of us live in the US. The energy in that room as we watched a strong, articulate woman talk about earning the nomination to serve as President was electric. Thanks for articulating how so many of us are feeling.
Debra, Keep writing!!!! Don’t stop. We NEED your words.
Great article Debra! A clear window into the events going on in the USA. Thanks for sharing this, it needs to be said.
Interestingly, I found myself identifying with some descriptors you used, even though I am a man, such as, “It’s interesting to me how close to the surface my anger has been this summer, just underneath that thick layer of depression.” Although, probably more because of climate change, ecological devastation, relentless materialism, a suffocating and increasingly oppressive techno-sphere, poverty, and growing disasters. But its good to have this critical dimension added into my reflections so clearly.
So glad I decided to catch up on RJ reading…
Thank you, Deborah, for this most insightful and passionate article!
I’m also hearted to see the most misguided of the comments confronted and dissembled by others.
Onwards!
As a Christian woman, myself, I feel bad that you are missing the contentment and joy of knowing who you are to Jesus. Jesus elevated women and showed to the world how important we are to God’s Kingdom. Jesus has validated me and given me all the self-worth that I need. Having a woman become president does not validate my intellect nor ability. I am enough.
And yes, I can say “me too”. Although those things do not define me. Nor do they say who I am. The only opinion that truly matters is God’s.
Ephesians 6:12 says, “For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
Electing a woman president will never elevate me, personally. For I am already elevated in Jesus Christ. And a female president will not change the minds on how women are viewed by others.
For some, they will never see women as valued as God sees us. For me, the only opinion that matters is the triune God. And maybe if we spend more time focusing on that, we will find Unity, not just in our Christian living, but as a country and as a world.
Being angry only creates division amongst us as brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. And last I read in the Good book, that was not God’s intention. So as we pick up our swords of truth, let us not forget who and what we are really fighting against.
I found it all interesting to read and I support Professor Rienstra completely, and just like someone wrote ,’ Debra Keep Writing!!!!!Don,t stop. We need your words and your support. Hallelujah!
Thank you Dr. Reinstra for putting this new hope into wonderful words!