Getting your anger out

Now here’s a business idea that really goes to the core of what many women are feeling they need to express.

In a shop in Norwich, in the United Kingdom, called  Rage Rooms, Gemma Whiddett lets her customers get all their frustration and anger out by smashing up unwanted crockery, small electrical appliances and miscellaneous jumble, using scaffolding poles.

The concept first caught on in Japan as a way of working off stress, before spreading across the United States and Europe, and is promoted as a fun, liberating means of venting everyday frustrations. At Gemma’s shop, around two-thirds of the customers are women.

You may like to have a look at a Ted talk by American activist Soraya Chemaly – that has been viewed 2.5 million times – who argues that women have been shamed for anger for too long.

What are you angry about and what can you do about it? Sometimes it’s just a case of putting your fists into a punching bag at the gym, or a pillow at home. Other times it may be about expressing that anger by telling someone why you are angry and how you would like the situation to change.

Go gently, especially with yourself. Women have long been taught to be “nice” and getting angry doesn’t really fall into that category. But you are entitled to feel, and express, all your emotions, in an appropriate, non-stereotypical way.