I am an angry feminist, and that’s a good thing

It took me years to learn how.

The “angry feminist” is the modern incarnation of the witches and hysterical women of yesteryear. She is despised by the alt-right blogosphere and treated with disdain from many well-meaning, “I’m-not-sexist-you-know” people whom I meet offline. A typical example being one of those “nice guys” who insists “I agree with you” but “why do you have to be so angry ? It makes non sexist guys like me not want to support you, when really, I’m on your side.”

He’s not, not really. By criticising feminists for their anger, he is policing women for stepping out of a gender norm, one that says women should be nice and smiley and not burn with rage. He is making out that our anger is a) illegitimate, and b) enjoyable, when really, it is quite the opposite.

You’ve seen the statistics and know that there are plenty of legitimate macro and micro reasons for women to be angry at society. The real question isn’t why feminists are angry but why, in spite of all of that, getting angry is still so hard.

Nothing in my upbringing as a friendly, gentle, feminine girl had prepared me for the need to be fierce.

I began encountering sexual harassment on a regular basis when I moved to Paris at 18, and found myself in a city where women are…