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Soraya Chemaly is an award-winning author and activist. As a cultural critic, she writes and speaks frequently about gender norms, politics, and technology and their relationship to violence, risk, and social justice. She is the former Executive Director of The Representation Project and Director and co-founder of the Women's Media Center Speech Project, both dedicated to protecting and expanding women's civic and political participation. Her first book, Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger, was recognized as a Best Book of 2018 by the Washington Post, Fast Company, Psychology Today, and NPR and has been translated into multiple languages. Her most recent book, The Resilience Myth, has just been released. Host: Katie Koestner Editor: Evan Mader Producer:s Catrina Aglubat and Emily Wang
What comes to your mind when you picture someone who's resilient? Usually, we hear that it's one person who's faced a setback, and they remain hopeful and willing to work through the challenges to return to some sort of life they had before. Maybe you've heard the phrase “pick themselves up by their bootstraps” to describe this type of person. We know we have. But that doesn't always work, as we continually say. We have a guest today who's going to help us critically examine that image we have - and help us understand what we're missing. She'll tell us we need to think critically about when it comes to glorifying resilience, especially if we're doing it for individual gain or to showcase individual strength, without realizing that the opposite of resilience is loneliness – we have to remember the communal and community contribution to the ability to be resilient. We're at a time in history where it feels - no matter your perspective - like the world is burning down around us. We want to trust that we will still be standing. To do it, we need to know when to be optimistic and when to be strategically pessimistic, not beat ourselves up when we're coming up against moral injury, embrace certain ways of thinking - cognitive flexibility, for those who want the big words - and hold onto hope for the collective, above all. What to listen for: The inaccurate understanding Americans have of resilience – and how it needs to shift from an individual to a collective focus: the opposite of resilience is loneliness. The mind-blowing study that shows us social status matter – and reexamining preconceptions and research in positive psychology, male-focused hardiness, and more. Rethinking popular portrayals of the upcoming generation – that, maybe, “younger people aren't distressed because they lack the right mindset or don't understand what is happening around them. They are distressed because the world is distressing, and adults have failed them.” How do we find hope when it feels like the world is burning around us? Have openness to difference, openness to change, and acceptance of limits. About Soraya: Soraya Chemaly is an award-winning author and activist. As a cultural critic, she writes and speaks frequently about gender norms, social justice, free speech, sexualized violence, politics, and technology. The former Executive Director of The Representation Project and Director and co-founder of the Women's Media Center Speech Project, she has long been committed to expanding women's civic and political participation. Soraya is also the author of The Resilience Myth: New Thinking on Grit, Strength, and Growth after Trauma, a thought-provoking exploration that challenges our most dearly held, common myths of resilience and urges us to shift our perspective from prioritizing individualized traits and skills to uplifting collective care and open-ended connections with our communities. Her first book, Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger, was recognized as a Best Book of 2018 by the Washington Post, Fast Company, Psychology Today, and NPR and has been translated into multiple languages. She is a contributor to several anthologies, most recently Free Speech in the Digital Age and Believe Me: How Trusting Women Can Change The World. Soraya is also a co-producer of a WMC #NameItChangeIt PSA highlighting the effects of online harassment on women in politics in America. Her work is featured widely in media, documentaries, books, and academic research. As an activist, Ms. Chemaly also spearheaded several successful global campaigns challenging corporations to address online hate and harassment, restrictive content moderation and censorship, and institutional biases that undermine equity and negatively affect free speech. Prior to 2010, Ms. Chemaly spent more than fifteen years as an executive and consultant in the media and data technology industries.
What do we lose when we're not allowed to be angry? In a lot of ways, anger is more taboo than grief. They're deeply related, as you'll hear in this two-part episode: both grief and anger are considered “negative” emotions, things you shouldn't feel, and definitely shouldn't express in polite company. But what if reclaiming our anger was the way to build the world - and the relationships - we most want? All of that and more with the best selling author of Rage Becomes Her, Soraya Chemaly. In this two-part episode we cover: What is the right amount of anger? Why deciding some emotions are “good” and some are “bad” isn't really helpful What would “anger competence” or “anger literacy” look like? (and why would you want that??) Why Soraya says “most grief is ambiguous grief” How the old split between the head (logic) and the heart (emotion) cuts us off from what we most want Finding your best community by embracing your anger We're re-releasing some of our favorite episodes from the first 3 seasons. This episode was originally recorded in 2023. Looking for a creative exploration of grief? Check out the best selling Writing Your Grief course here. About our guest: Soraya Chemaly is an award-winning writer and activist whose work focuses on the role of gender in culture, politics, religion, and media. She is the Director of the Women's Media Center Speech Project and an advocate for women's freedom of expression and expanded civic and political engagement. A prolific writer and speaker, her articles appear in TIME, The Verge, The Guardian, The Nation, HuffPost, and The Atlantic. Find her best selling book, Rage Becomes Her at sorayachemaly.com. Follow her on social media @sorayachemaly About Megan: Psychotherapist Megan Devine is one of today's leading experts on grief, from life-altering losses to the everyday grief that we don't call grief. Get the best-selling book on grief in over a decade, It's Ok that You're Not OK, wherever you get books. Find Megan @refugeingrief Additional Resources: We mention Pauline Boss in this episode. If you're not familiar with her excellent work on ambiguous loss (a term she coined in the 1970s), check out her website at ambiguousloss.com To read more about anger and how it relates to grief, check out It's OK that You're Not OK. If you want to explore your anger with creative prompts and exercises, check out the guided journal for grief, How to Carry What Can't Be Fixed. Want to talk with Megan directly? Join our patreon community for live monthly Q&A grief clinics: your questions, answered. Want to speak to her privately? Apply for a 1:1 grief consultation here. Books and resources may contain affiliate links.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In this, our last episode of Season One, the team at Dear Beth welcomes acclaimed, award-winning author and activist Soraya Chemaly. Chemaly's book, Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger poses a simple, yet provocative question: Why do we not appreciate women's anger as a catalyst for social change? In their conversation with Chemaly, Brea and Leah unpack why her book is so influential - particularly for those working in male-dominated fields such as law. They also explore the reasons why women's anger has long been suppressed and be-littled, while the anger of men is allowed more expression and given more validity. Chemaly encourages listeners to consider how the emotion of anger can be viewed in a different light: as an emotion that can be channeled for personal growth and a powerful tool to fight against injustice. In the last half of the episode, Brea, Beth, Leah and Jen sit down to reflect on their favorite moments from the past season and the power of storytelling which they captured in their own book: Creating a Seat at the Table: Reflections From Women in Law. Sharing their perspectives on the book and what they learned about the experience of women in law is Professor of Law Dwight Newman and Law Student Brock Melnyk both of the University of Saskatchewan Law School. And we also hear once again from entertainment lawyer and Canadian musician Safwan Javed who shares his perspective on allyship and how to use one's privilege for good. GUEST BIO: Soraya Chemaly is an award-winning author and activist. She writes and speaks frequently on topics related to gender, inclusivity, social justice, free speech, sexualized violence, and technology. The former Executive Director of The Representation Project and Director and co-founder of the Women's Media Center Speech Project, she has long been committed to expanding women's civic and political participation. Soraya is also the author of Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger, which was recognized as a Best Book of 2018 by the Washington Post, Fast Company, Psychology Today, and NPR and has been translated into multiple languages. She is a contributor to several anthologies, most recently Free Speech in the Digital Age and Believe Me: How Trusting Women Can Change The World. Soraya is also a co-producer of a WMC #NameItChangeIt PSA highlighting the effects of online harassment on women in politics in America. Her work is featured widely in media, documentaries, books, and academic research. As an activist, Ms. Chemaly has spearheaded several successful global campaigns challenging corporations to address online hate and harassment, restrictive content moderation and censorship, and institutional biases that undermine equity and negatively affect free speech. Prior to 2010, Ms. Chemaly spent more than fifteen years as a market development executive and consultant in the media and data technology industries. Her upcoming book, The Resilience Myth: New Thinking on Strength, Grit, and Growth After Trauma, will be released May 2024. Photo Credit: Elizabeth Dranitzke Additional Reading: CHEMALY, S. (2024). Rage becomes her. SIMON & SCHUSTER LTD. Chemaly, S. (May 2024). Resilience myth: New thinking on grit, strength, and growth after trauma. Atria Books. Bilson, B., Howie, L., & Lowenberger, B. (2023). Creating a seat at The table: Reflections From Women in Law. University of Regina Press. Co-Editor Bios: Beth Bilson, KC, PhD has enjoyed a career of teaching, writing, deaning, arbitrating, and community engagement that began at the University of Saskatchewan in 1979, and she has never run out of interesting things to do. Leah Howie, BEng, BSc, LLB, LLM lives in beautiful Saskatoon with her husband, two daughters, two dogs, and two cats. She loves reading, connecting people, travelling, and spending time outside on the prairies, in the mountains, by the river, and in the boreal forest. She enjoys thinking about ways to improve the law in her work in the area of law reform, and teaching and coaching law students as a sessional lecturer for the College of Law. Brea Lowenberger, BA, JD, LLM is a lifelong learner and collaborator who hopes to leave the individuals and communities she interacts with a bit better than she found them. She is passionate about teaching and implementing design strategies that improve access to justice for Saskatchewan residents through her roles as Access to Justice coordinator, director of CREATE Justice, and sessional lecturer for the College of Law. When she isn't working, she enjoys adventures with family and friends, travelling, being active, nature, reading, and creating music and art.
What do we lose when we're not allowed to be angry? In a lot of ways, anger is more taboo than grief. They're deeply related, as you'll hear in this two-part episode: both grief and anger are considered “negative” emotions, things you shouldn't feel, and definitely shouldn't express in polite company. But what if reclaiming our anger was the way to build the world - and the relationships - we most want? All of that and more with the best selling author of Rage Becomes Her, Soraya Chemaly. In this two-part episode we cover: What is the right amount of anger? Why deciding some emotions are “good” and some are “bad” isn't really helpful What would “anger competence” or “anger literacy” look like? (and why would you want that??) Why Soraya says “most grief is ambiguous grief” How the old split between the head (logic) and the heart (emotion) cuts us off from what we most want Finding your best community by embracing your anger We're re-releasing some of our favorite episodes from the first 3 seasons. This episode was originally recorded in 2023. Looking for a creative exploration of grief? Check out the best selling Writing Your Grief course here. About our guest: Soraya Chemaly is an award-winning writer and activist whose work focuses on the role of gender in culture, politics, religion, and media. She is the Director of the Women's Media Center Speech Project and an advocate for women's freedom of expression and expanded civic and political engagement. A prolific writer and speaker, her articles appear in TIME, The Verge, The Guardian, The Nation, HuffPost, and The Atlantic. Find her best selling book, Rage Becomes Her at sorayachemaly.com. Follow her on social media @sorayachemaly About Megan: Psychotherapist Megan Devine is one of today's leading experts on grief, from life-altering losses to the everyday grief that we don't call grief. Get the best-selling book on grief in over a decade, It's Ok that You're Not OK, wherever you get books. Find Megan @refugeingrief Additional Resources: We mention Pauline Boss in this episode. If you're not familiar with her excellent work on ambiguous loss (a term she coined in the 1970s), check out her website at ambiguousloss.com To read more about anger and how it relates to grief, check out It's OK that You're Not OK. If you want to explore your anger with creative prompts and exercises, check out the guided journal for grief, How to Carry What Can't Be Fixed. Want to talk with Megan directly? Join our patreon community for live monthly Q&A grief clinics: your questions, answered. Want to speak to her privately? Apply for a 1:1 grief consultation here. Books and resources may contain affiliate links.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What is your relationship with your anger? How much of your stress and exhaustion is fueled by repressed anger and rage? And how do you respond when those around you express anger?Our experiences early in life, experiences at our places of work and education, and our conditioning from culture all play significant roles in how we view and respond to anger and rage within and around us. And for women–especially Black and brown women–we learn our anger and rage come off as unbecoming and distancing, which can be the death of a promotion, a deal, or financial advancement.Many experience firsthand the negative impact of expressing our anger, which can bring about a dangerous backlash that can impact not only our well-being but also our safety. But when we shift the focus from seeing anger solely as dangerous or something to be feared and instead befriend and learn from it, so much changes in how we lead and do life.Today's guest wrote a beautifully written and well-cited book documenting the impact of suppressed rage in women on themselves and those around them. Soraya Chemaly is an award-winning author and activist. She writes and speaks frequently on topics related to gender norms, inclusivity, social justice, free speech, sexualized violence, and technology. She is the former Executive Director of The Representation Project and Director and Co-Founder of the Women's Media Center Speech Project, and also the author of Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger, which was recognized as a Best Book of 2018 by the Washington Post, Fast Company, Psychology Today, and NPR. Listen to the full episode to hear:How suppressing anger harms more than just the individualHow rage is justified and tolerated differently for men and womenHow niceness and a focus on the feelings of others is socialized into girls from an early ageThe anger that hides underneath stress, disappointment, and other ways women minimize their angerThe long-term impacts and risks of suppressed anger on physical and mental healthLearn more about Soraya Chemaly:WebsiteInstagram: @sorayachemalyRage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's AngerLearn more about Rebecca:rebeccaching.comWork With RebeccaSign up for the weekly Unburdened Leader EmailResources:Braving the Wilderness, Brené BrownReproduction, Louisa HallDo You Know Me By Heart, Cameron AveryJames Blake - Say What You WillImogen Heap - Hide And Seek
Soraya Chemaly who is an award-winning author, media critic, and activist who writes and speaks frequently about women's rights, gender, inclusivity, violence, and free speech. The former Executive Director of The Representation Project and Director and co-founder of the Women's Media Center Speech Project, she has long been committed to expanding women's civic and political participation. Her work appears in The Atlantic, TIME magazine, Rolling Stone, The Washington Post and various other outlets, and her activism has been featured widely in media, documentaries, books, and academic research. Soraya is also the author of Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger and a contributor to several anthologies, including Free Speech in the Digital Age and Believe Me: How Trusting Women Can Change The World. Her efforts have been recognized by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, the Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press's Women, and the Newhouse School for Public Communication. She was recently awarded a Wikipedia Distinguished Service Award and Soraya currently serves on the national board of the Women's Media Center and Equimundo and is a former or current board and advisory member of Emerge America, Women, Action and The Media, the Center for Democracy and Technology, FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture, and VIDA. Visit Soraya Chemaly's Website: www.SorayaChemaly.com Book - Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger Follow Soraya on: Instagram __________________________________ Subscribe to Dr. Lotte's Newsletter Visit Dr. Lotte's Website Stay Connected on Social Media, follow Dr. Lotte on Instagram & Facebook
What do we lose when we're not allowed to be angry? In a lot of ways, anger is more taboo than grief. They're deeply related, as you'll hear in this two-part episode: both grief and anger are considered “negative” emotions, things you shouldn't feel, and definitely shouldn't express in polite company. But what if reclaiming our anger was the way to build the world - and the relationships - we most want? All of that and more with the best selling author of Rage Becomes Her, Soraya Chemaly. In this two-part episode we cover: What is the right amount of anger? Why deciding some emotions are “good” and some are “bad” isn't really helpful What would “anger competence” or “anger literacy” look like? (and why would you want that??) Why Soraya says “most grief is ambiguous grief” Is anger the most social emotion? How the old split between the head (logic) and the heart (emotion) cuts us off from what we most want Finding your best community by embracing your anger About our guest: Soraya Chemaly is an award-winning writer and activist whose work focuses on the role of gender in culture, politics, religion, and media. She is the Director of the Women's Media Center Speech Project and an advocate for women's freedom of expression and expanded civic and political engagement. A prolific writer and speaker, her articles appear in Time, the Verge, The Guardian, The Nation, HuffPost, and The Atlantic. Find her best selling book, Rage Becomes Her at sorayachemaly.com. Follow her on social media @sorayachemaly Additional resources We mention Pauline Boss in this episode. If you're not familiar with her excellent work on ambiguous loss (a term she coined in the 1970s), check out her website at ambiguousloss.com To read more about anger and how it relates to grief, check out It's OK that You're Not OK. If you want to explore your anger with creative prompts and exercises, check out the guided journal for grief, How to Carry What Can't Be Fixed. Get in touch: Thanks for listening to this week's episode of Here After with Megan Devine. Tune in, subscribe, leave a review, send in your questions, and share the show with everyone you know. Together, we can make things better, even when they can't be made right. For more information, including clinical training and consulting, visit us at www.Megandevine.co For grief support & education, follow us at @refugeingrief on IG, FB, TW, and @hereafterpod on TT Check out Megan's best-selling books - It's Okay That You're Not Okay and How to Carry What Can't Be FixedSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What do we lose when we're not allowed to be angry? In a lot of ways, anger is more taboo than grief. They're deeply related, as you'll hear in this two-part episode: both grief and anger are considered “negative” emotions, things you shouldn't feel, and definitely shouldn't express in polite company. But what if reclaiming our anger was the way to build the world - and the relationships - we most want? All of that and more with the best selling author of Rage Becomes Her, Soraya Chemaly. In this two-part episode we cover: What is the right amount of anger? Why deciding some emotions are “good” and some are “bad” isn't really helpful What would “anger competence” or “anger literacy” look like? (and why would you want that??) Why Soraya says “most grief is ambiguous grief” Is anger the most social emotion? How the old split between the head (logic) and the heart (emotion) cuts us off from what we most want Finding your best community by embracing your anger About our guest: Soraya Chemaly is an award-winning writer and activist whose work focuses on the role of gender in culture, politics, religion, and media. She is the Director of the Women's Media Center Speech Project and an advocate for women's freedom of expression and expanded civic and political engagement. A prolific writer and speaker, her articles appear in Time, the Verge, The Guardian, The Nation, HuffPost, and The Atlantic. Find her best selling book, Rage Becomes Her at sorayachemaly.com. Follow her on social media @sorayachemaly Additional resources We mention Pauline Boss in this episode. If you're not familiar with her excellent work on ambiguous loss (a term she coined in the 1970s), check out her website at ambiguousloss.com To read more about anger and how it relates to grief, check out It's OK that You're Not OK. If you want to explore your anger with creative prompts and exercises, check out the guided journal for grief, How to Carry What Can't Be Fixed. Get in touch: Thanks for listening to this week's episode of Here After with Megan Devine. Tune in, subscribe, leave a review, send in your questions, and share the show with everyone you know. Together, we can make things better, even when they can't be made right. Have a question, comment, or a topic you'd like us to cover? call us at (323) 643-3768 or visit megandevine.co For more information, including clinical training and consulting, visit us at www.Megandevine.co For grief support & education, follow us at @refugeingrief on IG, FB, TW, and @hereafterpod on TT Check out Megan's best-selling books - It's Okay That You're Not Okay and How to Carry What Can't Be FixedSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Soraya Chemaly is an award-winning author, activist and former Executive Director of the Representation Project and Director and Co-Founder of the Women's Media Center Speech Project. She has long been committed to expanding women's civic and political participation. She is the author Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger and the recipient of the 2022 Passionistas Persist Trailblazer Award. Learn nore about Soraya Chemaly. Learn more about The Passionistas Project. FULL TRANSCRIPT: Passionistas: Hi, we're sisters Amy and Nancy Harrington. We founded the Passionistas Project to tell the stories of women who are following their passions and fighting for equality for all. The more we spoke with women for our podcast, subscription box and the annual Power of Passionistas summit, the more we saw a common trait in all of them. They are unstoppable. Whether they choose to use their voices to start a women-owned brand or fight for the rights of the marginalized, we found that all Passionistas are resilient, compassionate and persistent. Each year, we honor women who embody these qualities by presenting the Passionista Persist Awards. This episode of the podcast is an interview with one of the 2022 recipients. Our next award this evening is the Passionista Persist Trailblazer Award. The definition of Trailblazer is a pioneer, an innovator, a person who makes a new track through wild. Tonight's recipient is an activist and author who is pushing boundaries for women daily in this wild country we live in. The award is being presented by Dr. Melissa Bird, a feminist, author, healer and coach. Melissa's purpose in this world is to teach women how to step into their truth and quit playing small. Melissa: I am so pleased to be presenting the 2022 Passionist Persist Trailblazer Award to my amazing, inspiring friend Soraya Chemaly. Soraya is an award-winning author, activist and is the former Executive Director of the Representation Project and Director and Co-Founder of the Women's Media Center Speech Project. And she has long been committed to expanding women's civic and political participation. One of the things I love and adore about Soraya is that she is the author of one of my most favorite books, Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger. And I do not think it is any coincidence that on this day of all days, on this year of all years, I get the privilege and the honor of presenting Soraya with this incredible Trailblazer Award. So, Soraya, thank you so much for joining me today to receive this amazing, beautiful, awesome, well-deserved award because you are certainly blazing many trails in my life and the lives of so many of us. Soraya: Thank you so much, Missy and thank you to, The Passionistas Project. I am really, genuinely so honored. It has been a difficult year. It's been a difficult decade, actually, and honestly, it's just nice to know that organizations like yours are thinking about the work that people are doing, that requires this kind of persistence, which doesn't necessarily mean the same thing as hope. But really and truly, I'm genuinely very, very honored and delighted to be able to have this chance to have a conversation with you again and want to just say thank you very much. Melissa: Oh, you are so welcome. God works in very fascinating ways and the fact that you and I are here together. After the Supreme Court has released so many devastating decisions just this week, like in the last literally six days. Yes, I think it is. Um, I think it is awesome actually, that you and I are together at this moment talking about trailblazing, right? And, and about how are we moving forward. Um, as part of the Passionistas Project, as part of the work, um, that Amy and Nancy have brought together and culminated so that so many people can have a platform for change and a platform for blazing trails. And I think that, you know, you and I in our professional work, Soraya, we work with so many organizations and so many people who are trying. The thing that I love about the Passionistas Project is they are doing in such an authentically beautiful way. And so the first thing I really want to talk with you about today is about the Power of the Passionista and this mission of bringing all these women together from literally all over the world to talk about making change with diversity, equity and inclusion. Truly doing it this time. Like the lineup just blows my mind every time I think about it. So what does the Power of Passionista mean to you? Soraya: When I first heard Passionista, my response was a, a little bit viscerally to think, oh, hold on. That's a word that I personally have heard that you have heard that many of us have heard. That's used dismissively. You're so passionate about that project you work on. Right. As though some of the issues that we are fighting against. Um, our pet projects that we do in our spare time because it makes us feel happy, you know, and so I actually had that initial response, but what I really came to understand and think about was the fact that there's no reason to reject the word passionate or the idea of what it implies and clearly means in this context. I mean, these are women from all over the world who are dedicating their lives to making change often in situations of. Grave, danger of risk, um, of political, uh, violence. Uh, increasingly we know this is the case. Increasingly, we know that the people at the forefront of so many movements, environmental movements, climate change, indigenous rights, uh, apportion, reproductive rights, racial justice, it's over and over and over. Women, black women, queer women, trans women, women who are just pushed farther and farther and farther into the margins. And so I think it's really important to understand what it means. Honestly, the word kind of to me lies at the nexus of the personal and political that some people have the luxury to think are. Right? We know that that's a decades old expression from the feminist world, that the personal is political. But a lot of people really still benefit from separating those two things. And, and, you know, we gain nothing by pretending that they're separated. Um, and I actually think the word Passionista, um, makes people think about that if they care to. Melissa: I think we have to have passion to keep moving on. If we remain passionate about the things that deeply impact our lives and our world and the world of other people, particularly all of the women you just mentioned, we start talking about disabled women, women who are engaging in decolonizing work. We start talking about rebellious women, women who are trying to get educated and disrupting the education system. When we think about people being the ones who are potentially gonna get us through. Then we have to understand passion. Because without passion, the drive in hopeless moments becomes diminished. And so what are you the most passionate about? Soraya: When the Dobbs decision came down, I think like a lot of people, I burst out crying. And the thing is that you've been doing this work, I've been doing this work for, oh, it feels like decades, right? Yeah. Like literally, there was no surprise in this at all. There was just profound loss and disappointment and sadness and rage. That's how I felt, you know? And it was just so eviscerating actually, because I think. If you have been on this side of this fight, seriously, you understand what just happened, what we just lost, what it represents. And that's not to diminish other losses at all, but it's such a turning point to have the right taken away. But it is a really critical point and a great unraveling. Yes and yes. Yes, yes. I'm so glad you called it a great unraveling because I think that is profoundly important for people to understand as we're thinking about, I mean, trailblazing the world as we know it will fall apart. And we're seeing it in little tiny anecdotes. Mm-hmm. you know, doctors who have a woman come into their emergency room at 11:30 PM who with an ectopic pregnancy, that's about to blow, but they've gotta get on the phone with the attorney. Yeah. And make sure they can do the procedure. Cuz her life isn't totally at risk yet, but it will be soon. Right. I, I'm just like, maybe now you understand that the single what the single issues. Not issue. It was always oversimplified into this idea of the act of abortion. And that is never what any of us was talking about, you know? And so I think the thing you were saying, what am I most passionate about? And I was kind of winnowed down into this nub of real despair. You know, just that feeling that you get, which is hopelessness. But I will admit that that was swamp. Pretty quickly by my rage. Yeah. And I think by many people who, many people had this experience of feeling this justifiable rage, but in fact, you can't let that rage hurt you. This is the point, right? If the, if the rage you feel is causing you dangerous stress or causing you to hurt yourself in other ways or. To, um, destroy relationships that are important, that that's not a functioning tool. And, and so I'm quite passionate in this moment about acknowledging anger, acknowledging the rage of the moment, and also appreciating that while it's not the conventional, socially acceptable, um, method of displaying. Anger is literally one of the most hopeful emotions because if you can maintain your anger, which is different from resentment, right? Like I feel resentment when I look back at people's decades of work that feels dismissed and lost, I'm looking back, right? That's different from a rage, which is a feeling that things can and must change. Because you don't feel rage. If you feel really genuinely hopeless. What you feel is sadness and despair and depression, and that's paralyzing. And it's okay if people feel that way because in fact, this is a sad, depressing, paralyzing moment. But I would just say that I also believe that, again, it's not, not to say embrace a rage and an anger that are destructive. It's not at all what I mean, but acknowledge that the rage and the anger are justifiable and that they need expression and that no matter what, they are hopeful. They are fundamentally hopeful. We think that in order to make change, we have to, we have to set aside anger and. And yes, what I love to refer to as Righteous Fury. Mm-hmm. in order to disrupt systems and make a difference. And I remember so many times when I was lobbying at the Capitol in Utah for a Planned Parenthood, I would just be furious. I can't play poker, I can't keep any emotion off my damn face. And I would be so livid and then I would like take this breath and go, what has to be done? How can I communicate what is necessary to these people to help things move forward? Because I had to focus on, not me, but the thousands and thousands of people that are gonna be impacted by that. Those pieces of legislation, either that I was trying to push forward or that other people were trying to push forward. And as soon as I channeled that rage and moved it into, everything changed as long as I wasn't screaming and yelling and huffing at, at directly at human beings and being abusive and confrontational, I still got rage. I still had all the rage. Mm-hmm. And I channeled it. Melissa: And I'm curious, when you talk about rage, what are the things that you really wanna help people who are part of this Passionistas summit understand. Soraya: Taking our rage and using it to blaze wherever we're going. There are a few things that really still strike me. Um, it's been three years since the book was published and, um, you know, it, it's one of these books I think that has a very long tale because in fact there is an evergreen quality to these ideas. Mm-hmm, you know, and, and we wanna underst. Emotionality and we in particular, I think wanna understand the role it plays in our cognition because if you are a woman, or if I'm identifying, you know, how quickly and easily people dismiss you, if you express anger. Which is why so many of us try not to show anger, feel anger, display anger. We've grown up being punished for it or, um, mocked for it. You know, that's the number one worry women have. It's not that someone's gonna be violent, it is that they will be mocked for expressing anger, which is an expression of need or an assertion of will. Right. And we're, we're, we're not supposed to have either of those, those things. Mm-hmm. , but I, I think. , there are a few things. One is to be a trailblazer and to use your passionate feelings and beliefs. Doesn't require that you take on the whole world all at once or have an institution or a structure. You know, the whole fact of trailblazing is that you find a new way. You find a way that makes sense to you, and then , most times it also makes sense to other people, but they just either didn't do it or didn't think of it or didn't have the time, but are so appreciative of the fact that you might do it. And so for some people that might be organizing a local choir to resist peacefully. In a certain way, right. To other people it may be writing legislation to other people. It may be mobilizing, um, transportation, who knows what it is, right? But I think it's really important to not feel paralyzed by the idea that there's a way to trail blades. The point is it's risky. Yes. You, you, you have to take the. People may call you stupid or you know, any number of terrible, terrible names, which 100% will happen. Okay. How you know you're on the trail. That's how you know you're on the trail. So you really have to, you have to really fundamentally be okay with people not liking you. That's the other lesson that really strikes me about being passionate and being angry as part of. We are so, so expected and socialized to be likable and to put others first, and not make other people uncomfortable. Trailblazing always makes people uncomfortable. It's okay. We need more people to be very profoundly uncomfortable. I'm thinking about my own moments where friends have come to me, or clients have come to me, or organizations have come to me and said, you know, I have this. I really wanna do it, and I don't think I should because if I do A, B or C is gonna happen, people won't like me. I'll lose my family, I'll lose my friends, which is what stops us from doing our core, what we are here to do. Right? Right. It stops us from living at our purpose. Oftentimes what I hear from people is that I must be really unique for writing the, the very first bill I ever wrote on my dining room table when I was getting my master's degree. Thinking about what propels you and the people that you know, all these women who are here as part of the summit, all these people that are connecting with all of us who are involved as either award recipients or speakers. What do you want people to know? You know, there's gonna be a lot of noise, there's gonna be a lot of us versus them. There's gonna be a lot of polarization cuz there's nothing. This country more loves more than polarizing each other. Melissa: What do you think people really need to hear about that polarization so they don't get distracted by all that noise? Soraya: Well, it's so hard, you know, because in fact the stage at which we're in the polarization is intimate, right? We're not talking about someone who lives in another state who feels differently. We may be talking as women about the person who's sleeping next to us in bed. That is a very difficult situation that millions and millions and millions of people find themselves in. The polarization is very gendered and very raced. The political polarization. Mm-hmm. But at the same time, we all know there are a lot of liberal progressive men and a lot of extremely conservative women. Yes. So, you know, I don't wanna suggest that it's straight down the line that fathers and daughters or, you know, so I, I think it's important to acknowledge. The intimacy of the issues that we're talking about and it demands of us different tactics and techniques. It demands, honestly, and this is what, this is why I gravitated towards anger as a way of shedding light on some of these issues of inequal. The inequalities are deeply intimate, right? And so the thing about anger in an intimate setting, whether it's a family setting, a religious community, which is almost always patriarchal, right? Our main religious faiths are all mainstream patriarchal, um, regardless of the community you're in. The thing about disdain, anger is that it, it erases the, even the idea of reciprocity, right? So if you're angry at people, you know, and you don't tell them who exactly are you protecting or hurting. Maybe you're protecting yourself because it's too big a risk to think, I love these people. I have dedicated my life to them. I've taken care of them, or I do it every day. But what if they don't return that care? Right? What if I say I'm very angry? This is very important to me, I need you to support me. And what they do is get angry at me for the way I express myself or laugh at me and diminish my concerns. Those are legitimate concerns because they happen every day. And so I just think we need to acknowledge the risk because in fact, the hard part about thinking about reciprocity is acknowledging. There are power. There's power at play, social power at play in our institutions at every level. So yes, in the government, but in our schools and in our places of worship and at our dining room tables, I always say, if you can't practice a hard conversation at home among the people that in that you trust and who in theory love you and support you, how are you supposed to do outside. I think that's really the thing that keeps people from engaging. Melissa: The topic of this conference is diversity, equity and inclusion, right? And I think that right there, Soraya is why people don't really authentically dig into do I work because I agree. Because if you can't have that conversation at home, right? Soraya: How in the hell are you supposed to have it in a corporation with thousands of employees. So often the onus of these conversations falls on the minority people who are most negatively affected. When we think about intersectionality, it's very often the case that you think about black women, um, or trans women, right? Yeah. And what gets erased is the intersectional nature or relevance or political. Identity of a white straight man, for example, or of a, a, a white straight woman. That identity, because it's so often conflated with a normal person mm-hmm. as opposed to, and, and a person whose identity doesn't matter. That gets very complicated. And so when you have to do the hard work of talking about those identities, It feels as we know, like an attack on people. That's, that's where the term white fragility comes from, you know? And so imagine being, uh, a woman at the dinner table who wants to talk to her children about whiteness, and that's not really appreciated by her spouse. How is she also gonna talk about male or straightness, right? If she has a child, if she like. It's a very complicated, and I think the reason it gets so complicated is because these conversations are threats to identity. You know, they're threats to how people think of themselves as being good people. I don't know how many men I've talked to who you know, hate identity politics. Without thinking about their own identities, right? Because in fact, from their perspective, which we keep hearing over and over again, they've done what everybody can do, which is work hard and provide and protect and do exactly what they were told to do, which in fact, they are doing, they are. And in fact, there are rewards that come with and those rewards do not extend to other people. That's the point. So the diversity and inclusion conversations come, as you say, to a hard stop because they, they have to happen intimately. Yeah. You know, they, they have, they, that's, that's the only way things are gonna change. Melissa: One of the things Amy, Nancy and I were talking about as we've been trying to get sponsorships for the conference, right? Because as you do, like it's a conference, right? Sponsorships. Right. One of the things we realized really early on, because I'm like, this is a DEI, no-brainer. We have elevated like people with disabilities. Yeah. You know, indigenous folks, like trans women, like we've. I've never been so involved with an organization that actually is doing all of this. Like I, I was really surprised. Yeah. Whoa. Like, this is real, right? We're having such a hard time getting money, and I realized we, we had this moment, this epiphany, Soraya, where I was like, we're elevating the other. A hundred percent. A hundred percent. Every person involved with this conference is the other. Yeah. And corporations can all day talk about how committed they are to whomever we wanna name, but when it comes to putting their money where their mouth is Right, they don't deliver. I agree. And I'm wondering if you think. If you have any ideas about how we can all leave this summit and, and really start to hold people's feet to the fire as we're moving into this new era where so much is gonna get decimated. Soraya: I belong to many different organizations. I've set on the boards and advisory boards of many organizations dedicated to. Um, representation, diversity and inclusion in lots of different industries. And the first thing that happens, of course, is that you, you go after the easy, theoretically, money, people who you already know are predisposed. If you belong to, uh, uh, an organization that traditionally focused on women mm-hmm. , you might go after. Women donors, right? Sure, sure. Yeah. Beautiful. To an organization that focused on black women, there were far less women donors that were black women. So, you know, your, your pool might be a little narrower. Yep. But what what happens is that even as you say, it's, it's not just in your case that you've gone after the other, it's that even a word like Passionista. Marginalize as an organization. Mm-hmm, because of its feminized underlying, vaguely sexualized, you know, kind of con the language, the context, the biases that go into that. Imagine if you had this kind of organization dedicated to men trailblazers, you just probably wouldn't call it Passionista. And so we end up being marginalized just by virtue of the words and identities that we're trying to support. When we do that, we end up, first of all, just going after about two to 4% of available monies that leaves the other 96 to 98. That in terms of private money, comes from men, individual men, wealthy men. Mm-hmm and, and I'm always flummoxed. Why, why are we not asking these very outspoken, wealthy men who claim to be supporters of freedom and you know, on and on and on. I'm like, where's their money? Yes, where's their money going? I mean, I only vaguely tongue in cheek did I suggest to a friend yesterday that there should just be a Men of Conscience organization that handed money over. Here's the money. Mm-hmm, but you know, very often money comes with strings attached. Yep. And that gets very complicated for some organizations, you know? Yeah. Um, so it kind of becomes a vicious, self-fulfilling cycle, cycle of scarcity. Mm-hmm. But we do have to find. To hold people publicly accountable. Yeah. Hold organizations accountable. There's very little transparency. Yeah. That's a big problem. You know, so I don't, you know, I don't have a really easy solution. I would say though, that if you are a trailblazer and gender is a component of your trailblazing, be aware of the degree to which that becomes marginalizing. By default, I mean, for 10 years now, I've lobbying fighting, engage in activism around freedom of expression, online harassment, violence against women, and really and truly, you have to explain which gobsmacking to me still why that's a matter of democracy. Yes, right. When your most vulnerable, marginalized citizens cannot speak without the threat of violence, yes, and harm and rape and lynching and horrible things, your democracy is not functioning. We just live in a society as we know where it's not until the freeze breach. Of the most powerful, who still tend to be cisgendered, straight white men, Christian. It's not until the those rights start getting scratched at that people pay attention to democracy. There's nothing new here. This is the, you know, it's the history of the nation that doesn't make it any less frustrating. How can we come together? I think it's very important to come together. To for, you know, the, the one thing about the internet, despite all of its bad, bad aspects, is that it does enable people to come together to build fluid communities. Um, you can build, you know, chains of ad hoc communities. That are meaningful and valuable and supportive and you know, people can share moments of joy and humor and accomplishment and shared goals and visions. And I think it's very easy, particularly since we seem to be pretending we still are not in a pandemic, but we are right. In a time like this, I think it's very easy not just to feel isolated, but also to withdraw. You know, I felt that tendency where. I think it's better to be alone than to be to, to subject other people to my particular mindset. Right now, I know what that's like. We, we went to dinner last week and this weekend and I walked in. I saw a man and I thought, if he offers me a drink, I think I have to just, I'm just gonna say to him, well, what do you want me to have? Because, What the fuck where you're at. Yeah. That's where I am. Right. I'm like, I can't have a conversation. I need to not have this conversation. Yeah, right. And, but I think that's a bad instinct. What we need is more connection, not disconnection, not connection with people we're angry at. I don't want to suggest that, you know, but we need to build on the relationships that bring us comfort and joy and connect. And we need to make those connections with more and more and more people. I, I love what I, I, what I love about that is that, um, I've been saying that if we really, truly are ready to disrupt white supremacy and racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, all the things, if we are really truly there, then connecting on. And allowing ourselves to let this crumble right is really important because I don't wanna live under a regime that is founded on the doctrine of discovery and manifest destiny. That's exactly right. Like we have been, we've been, nobody knows, frankly, what the doctrine of discovery is. Right. It is the document that our constitution is founded on, which says if you go to a piece of land from wherever you are and you, uh, whatever European Christian country, whatever European Christian country you're coming from, and you discover it, then you have free reign to kill everybody who's on it. So you can discover it. Yeah. And that is the Reader's Digest condensed version in literally half a second. Melissa: But I don't wanna live under that and when we come together and hold each other in all of this and we connect wherever we're at, then we can start to figure out ways to move through this as it is burning around us. Soraya: Yeah. Yeah. And I think too in, in terms of coming to terms with what all of that really means, I think that. What's very clear is that communities that have been under-resourced and PO and and punished for centuries. For centuries, right, they have been responsible for themselves. They have already been at war with the government. They have already been punished repeatedly by the society. Yes. You know, this is not new. Honestly, what's new right now I think is the shock to white communities. Just like, just like when Trump was elected, frankly. Yeah, right. Just the shock of it. To some people that, my God, it can actually happen. And you're like, yeah, yes it can. Yeah, sure enough it can. Cause it has, it's happened over and over and over again. And so that circle of people who are negatively affected is now bigger. And I think part of the problem is the instinct in many communities is, well, we need to do something and then they start from. Instead of stepping back and thinking this would be a really good time to educate myself, to listen, to learn, to support the leaders who've already been doing this, the communities that understand how to do this, you know, and I know this too, I will say this flat out because I have seen this over and over again. What often happens, particularly among. You've seen this too, right? In feminist organizations, but philanthropic organizations that aren't specifically feminists. White women will replicate patriarchal power structures by default, you know, and, and they will act in ways that are corrosive. To other types of organizations and societies. So very hierarchical, very dominant, very power over, very top down. We've seen that. We've seen that destroy organizations over and over again. So I think it's just really important in this moment. To step back and be very self-reflective. How am I contributing to this problem structurally without knowing it? What mistakes have I made? What can I learn? How can I be quiet? How can I learn? How can I learn? Is really, I think, possibly the most important thing that can, the question people can ask right now, we all can learn. Melissa: Soraya:, thank you so much for your time. Oh, thank you. I'm blazing a trail that I can go running down to. Soraya: No, thank you again. Really and truly. And you know, I wanna say thank you to Nancy and Amy especially, um, and always such a delight to talk to you and to work with you in solidarity. Um, so thank you all very. Passionistas: Thanks for listening to the awards presentation with Soraya Chemaly, and thanks to Dr. Melissa Bird for the amazing interview. To learn more about Dr. Bird, visit DrMelissaBird.com. To learn more about Soraya, visit SorayaChemaly.com and be sure to subscribe to The Passionista Project Podcast so you don't miss any of our upcoming inspiring guests. Until next time, stay well and stay passionate.
Soraya Chemaly is an award-winning author and activist. She writes and speaks frequently on topics related to gender norms, inclusivity, social justice, free speech, sexualized violence, and technology. The former Executive Director of The Representation Project and Director and co-founder of the Women's Media Center Speech Project, she has long been committed to expanding women's civic and political participation.Soraya is also the author of Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger, which was recognized as a Best Book of 2018 by the Washington Post, Fast Company, Psychology Today, and NPR and has been translated into multiple languages. She is a contributor to several anthologies, and her work is featured widely in media, documentaries, books, and academic research. In this episode, we talk about the gendering of emotion, how women's anger is often hidden, misunderstood, misrepresented, vilified, and yet important and deserving of attention. Soraya speaks about her research and we talk about intersectionality, the long-term impacts of not being able to own one's anger, and how we can do more to reclaim our rage. I loved every minute of speaking to Soraya, and hope you enjoy this conversation too. Buy 'Rage Becomes Her' here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/5890/9781471172113 Support the show
Ever been called an angry feminist? Us too. Soraya Chemaly is a writer, speaker, and activist who studies the many reasons women have to be angry, and why they're called bitches, hot-headed, crazy feminists when they are. She is an award-winning activist, the best-selling author of Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger, and director and co-founder of the Women's Media Center Speech Project. She joins Sabrina to discuss:• The reasons women have to be angry, from microaggressions to macro-level sexism• Why anger is actually one of the most hopeful, forward-thinking, and powerful emotions• Why men and women are conditioned to experience and display emotion differentlyLike what you hear and want more? Sign up for our newsletter full of episode updates and resources on issues impacting women around the world.
GUEST INFO: SORAYA CHEMALYWays to connect with herTwitter: @schemalyInstagram: @sorayachemalyFacebook: Soraya ChemalyInstagram for Rage Becomes Her: @ragebecomesherSoraya Chemaly’s Website: http://www.sorayachemaly.com/Rage Becomes HerBUY RAGE BECOMES HERWant to check out more of Soraya's Work?Check out all her books hereSoraya's Ted TalkOther events Soraya has spoken atOther online writing that Soraya has doneThe Representation ProjectSign up for their newsletterThe Representation Project's website----SORAYA CHEMALY'S BIOSoraya Chemaly is currently the Executive Director of The Representation Project. An award-winning author and activist, she writes and speaks frequently on topics related to gender norms, inclusivity, social justice, free speech, sexualized violence, and technology. The former director and co-founder of the Women’s Media Center Speech Project, she has long been committed to expanding women’s civic and political participation.Soraya is also the author of Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Anger, which was recognized as a Best Book of 2018 by the Washington Post, Fast Company, Psychology Today, Autostraddle and NPR and has been translated into several languages. She is a contributor to multiple anthologies, most recently Free Speech in the Digital Age and Believe Me: How Trusting Women Can Change The World. Her work as a writer, activist, and organizer is featured widely in media, books, and academic research.Soraya currently serves on the national boards of the Women's Media Center, Women in Journalism, and the DC Volunteer Lawyers Project. She has also served on the boards of Women, Action and the advisory councils of the Center for Democracy and Technology, VIDA, Secular Woman, FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture, No Bully, and Common Sense Media DC. As an activist, Ms. Chemaly has spearheaded successful campaigns challenging corporations to address online abuse, restrictive content moderation and censorship, and institutional biases that affect free speech.In 2013, Soraya won the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s (AEJMC)'s Award for Feminist Advocacy and the Secular Woman Activism Award. In 2014, she was named one of Elle Magazine's 25 Inspiring Women to Follow in social media, and, in 2016, the recipient of the Women’s Institute for Freedom of the Press’s Women and Media Award. In 2017, she was the co-recipient of the Newhouse Mirror Award for Best Single Feature of 2016 for an in-depth investigative report on free speech and social media, and a Wikipedia Distinguished Service Award for exemplary contributions to the advancement of public knowledge and educational content. In 2019, she was awarded the Feminist Press’ Feminist Power Award. Prior to 2010, Ms. Chemaly spent more than fifteen years as a market development executive and consultant in the media and data technology industries. After several years in market development at the Gannett Corporation, she moved into the data tech sector at Claritas, ending her tenure there as SVP of Marketing Strategy.---------Podcast InfoA new podcast episode drops every Monday.Music credit: L-Ray Music, Courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc.Learn more about your host, Cordelia, by clicking hereBe sure to follow Cordelia on Instagram: @codependentrecoveryWant to help me make this podcast better? Take an anonymous survey here.---------Workbook + Community + Free ResourcesAre you going through a breakup or divorce? Here is the link to the 98-page workbook. Print version + ebook version available worldwide.Want to join the community (i.e., community club or book club)? Click hereWant access to free resources? Click hereNeed help finding a counselor? Click here
If the fuming, seething feeling we sat with for weeks after the Capitol was stormed is any indication, feeling anger stinks and is bad for our bodies. But we as women have not been taught how to handle this feeling; in fact, we’re often taught to shove anger down and away, while going on with our day, taking care of others. This is why we’re thrilled to be having a conversation with Soraya Chemaly, author of Rage Becomes Her, to talk about how women have been conditioned by our society, what our biology actually indicates, and what on earth to do when we feel the steam coming out of our ears, so we can make positive change around us. Have questions, comments, or concerns? Email us at hello@dearwhitewomen.com What to listen for: Statistics on the hormonal shifts our bodies exhibit when we experience anger The relationship between “I’m so tired” and “I’m so angry” Society’s devaluation of the important work of caring, and how women bear the brunt of that How anger is perceived differently depending on how you look - gender, and race Top tips on how to get better at processing and expressing anger, to make change About Soraya Chemaly: Soraya Chemaly is currently the Executive Director of The Representation Project. An award-winning author and activist, she writes and speaks frequently on topics related to gender norms, inclusivity, social justice, free speech, sexualized violence, and technology. The former director and co-founder of the Women’s Media Center Speech Project, she has long been committed to expanding women’s civic and political participation. Soraya is also the author of Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Anger, which was recognized as a Best Book of 2018 by the Washington Post, Fast Company, Psychology Today, Autostraddle, and NPR and has been translated into several languages. She is a contributor to multiple anthologies, most recently Free Speech in the Digital Age and Believe Me: How Trusting Women Can Change The World. Her work as a writer, activist, and organizer is featured widely in media, books, and academic research. Support us through Patreon! Learn about our virtual community – and you’re welcome to join. Like what you hear? Don’t miss another episode and subscribe! Catch up on more commentary between episodes by following us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter – and even more opinions and resources if you join our email list.
It seems just as a major tech company launches the next big thing, users hijack it with racist, misogynistic, and otherwise harmful material. Soraya Chemaly, executive director of The Representation Project and co-founder of the Women’s Media Center Speech Project, joins host Krys Boyd to talk about big tech’s moral failings that put profit ahead of safe spaces. Her article “The Risk Makers” was published by Medium’s OneZero and co-written with Catherine Buni.
In the countdown to the 2020 election I interviewed Soraya Chemaly, author of Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Anger - an amazing book she wrote after 2016 election delving into the reasons why women can’t be angry without being called “unhinged” or a “b*”. Our conversation includes: how the progressive white male was most “shocked” with 2016 results why the power differential between men and women hurts EVERYONE (hello, judges of Kamala Harris' facial expressions) why the ideology of separate spheres keeps us divided — and struggling to maintain our mental health, hence all those bubble baths and lavender oil treatments. (Raising my hand to that... its great, right, but... is it really enough?) Soraya also shares the historical context of gender roles and intersectional feminism to provide convincing reasons why self-care rituals fall short of any real solutions while remaining vitally important for us to do. --- About Soraya Soraya Chemaly is currently Executive Director of The Representation Project. An award-winning author and activist, she writes and speaks frequently on topics related to gender norms, inclusivity, social justice, free speech, sexualized violence, and technology. The former director and co-founder of the Women’s Media Center Speech Project, she has long been committed to expanding women’s civic and political participation. Her work as a writer, activist and organizer is featured widely in media, books, and academic research. She is the author of Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Anger, which has been translated into several languages, and a contributor to multiple anthologies, most recently Free Speech in the Digital Age and Believe Me: How Trusting Women Can Change The World. Prior to 2010, Ms. Chemaly spent more than fifteen years as a market development executive and consultant in the media and data technology industries. After several years in market development at the Gannett Corporation, she moved into the datatech sector at Claritas, ending her tenure there as SVP of Marketing Strategy. Soraya currently serves on the national boards of the Women's Media Center, Women in Journalism, and the DC Volunteer Lawyers Project. She has also served on the boards of Women, Action and the advisory councils of the Center for Democracy and Technology, VIDA, Secular Woman, FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture, No Bully, and Common Sense Media. As an activist, Ms. Chemaly has spear-headed multiple successful campaigns challenging corporations to address online harassment and abuse, restrictive content moderation and censorship, and institutional biases that affect free speech. In 2013, Soraya won the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s (AEJMC)'s Award for Feminist Advocacy and the Secular Woman Activism Award. In 2014, she was named one of Elle Magazine's 25 Inspiring Women to Follow in social media, and, in 2016, the recipient of the Women’s Institute for Freedom of the Press’s Women and Media Award. In 2017, she was the co-recipient of the Newhouse Mirror Award for Best Single Feature of 2016 for an in-depth investigative report on free speech and social media, and a Wikipedia Distinguished Service Award for exemplary contributions to the advancement of public knowledge and educational content. In 2019, she was awarded the Feminist Press’ Feminist Power Award. Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Books --- Get the Body Kindness book It's available wherever books and audiobooks are sold. Read reviews on Amazon and pick up your copy today! Order signed copies and bulk discounts here! --- Donate to support the show Thanks to our generous supporters! We're working toward our goal to fund the full season. Can you donate? Please visit our Go Fund Me page. --- Get started with Body Kindness Sign up to get started for free and stay up to date on the latest offerings --- Become a client Check out BodyKindnessBook.com/breakthrough for the latest groups and individual support sessions --- Subscribe to the podcastWe're on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio. Enjoy the show? Please rate it on iTunes! Have a show idea or guest recommendation? E-mail podcast@bodykindnessbook.com to get in touch. --- Join the Facebook groupContinue the episode conversations with the hosts, guests, and fellow listeners on the Body Kindness Facebook group. See you there! Nothing in this podcast is meant to provide medical diagnosis, treatment, cure, or prevent any disease or condition. Individuals should consult a qualified healthcare provider for medical advice and answers to personal health questions.
In this episode, we discuss the disparate gender experiences of anger and the impacts it has on individuals, relationships, and society. Soraya Chemaly is an award-winning writer and media critic whose writing appears regularly in national and international media. She speaks frequently on topics related to inclusivity, freedom of speech, gender roles in human systems, data, and technology. Ms. Chemaly is co-founder and director of the Women's Media Center Speech Project and spear-headed multiple successful campaigns challenging corporations to address inclusivity, online harassment and hate, and algorithmic bias. In 2017, she was a recipient of the Newhouse Mirror Award for Best Single Feature of 2016 for an in-depth investigative report, The Secrets of The Internet, about social media companies and their regulation of online hate, harassment, and freedom of expression. Her recent book, Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger, was named one Best Book of 2018 by The Washington Post, Fast Company, Psychology Today and Book Riot. In this episode, we discuss: · Gendered assumptions when it comes to the emotions we feel, especially anger. · The difference of how genders are taught to process and express anger. · Misconceptions about testosterone and the relationship between testosterone and aggression. · The impacts of detaching anger from femininity. · How anger is perceived differently by race. · How vulnerability and fragility is programmed into women from a young age and the impact that has. · The unhealthy ways in which unprocessed anger is presenting in our lives. · The complicated dynamics – within society and relationships – surrounding caretaking responsibilities. · And what we can do to begin to address unprocessed anger. You can find and follow Soraya here: Website Instagram @sorayachemaly Facebook /sorayachemaly Twitter @schemaly Her book – Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger SHOP!! Shop effective plant-based hand soap, cleaners, shampoo, conditioner, and more at PURACY. Use Code PURE15 for 15% off. Check out additional DISCOUNTS in my SHOP! GIVEAWAY!! We are giving away six sex toys from CalExotics, the first woman-owned sex toy company EVER. Susan Colvin, the owner, launched the business 25 years ago and is a pioneer in the space — she's launched over a million pleasure products over the years! Her mission is to bring pleasure to ALL people no matter their gender, race, socioeconomic background, or preferences. Laguna Beach Lover "Marvelous Tickler"- a new release from CalExotics' Mini Marvels Shameless "Seducer" French Kiss Charmer Glam Rechargeable Butterfly Kiss Listen to Ep. 34: Live Your Best Sex Life with Isharna Walsh to learn more. www.CalExotics.com. RUNS THROUGH MARCH 31! Please SUBSCRIBE, SHARE, RATE, and REVIEW the podcast! Follow the podcast on Instagram @TheBetterYouPodcast or Facebook @TheBetterYouPodcast. And you can email the podcast at TheBetterYouPodcast@gmail.com Follow me on all the socials: Instagram @kaciemain_writes, Facebook @kaciemain.write, or Twitter @kaciemain_write. Find my book – I Gave Up Men for Lent, the story of a jaded, hopelessly romantic, health-conscious party girl's search for meaning – on Amazon, Kindle, and Audible. And for everything else you want to know about me, visit my website at www.kaciemain.com Some links are Amazon Affiliate links.
Kelly interviews feminist writer Soraya Chemaly, author of Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger. They discuss the role of anger in the 2016 and 2020 presidential races, modeling emotional competence for children, and Soraya's work as Director of the Women's Media Center Speech Project.
Protest and Upheaval Spreads Across Latin America (0:30)Guest: Kirk Hawkins, PhD, Professor of Political Science, BYUThe long-time president of Bolivia has stepped down and fled the country. Weeks of sometimes violent protests in Chile have spurred the President to promise a new Constitution will be written. Peru's president dissolved the country's Congress a month ago, so Congress turned around and suspended him, sparking a Constitutional crisis over who is in charge of Peru's government. For several weeks in October, violent protests swept the streets of Ecuador. And Venezuela's political and humanitarian crisis grows deeper every month. Pre-Crastination is the Opposite of Procrastination (16:55)Guest: David A. Rosenbaum, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Psychology at University of California RiversideThe early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. Is procrastination sometimes a good thing? While there seem to be obvious benefits to getting things done in a timely manner, new research is revealing that there are definite drawbacks to pre-crastinating akin to the drawbacks of procrastinating. They conclude that this habit does not just reflect simple haste or the pursuit of instant gratification; it also reduces demand on mental resources--meaning that we are just trying to make our lives a little bit easier. In doing so, however, you actually increase your own anxiety levels and feed into a vicious cycle of intense compulsions to act fast. Mormons in the US-Mexico Borderlands (32:58)Guest: Lisa Elliott, Associate Professor of Mass Communication, El Paso Community College, NEH Grant RecipientThe FBI has joined the investigation into the murder of three women and six children in Northern Mexico last week by suspected cartel gunmen. The victims were dual US-Mexico citizens from a community that identifies as “Mormon” but is not affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Last week on Top of Mind, we spoke with an expert on the independent –or fundamentalist –Mormon communities in Mexico –some who practice polygamy, some who don't. There's also a community of Mormons who are actively affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and have been rooted for generations on both sides of the US-Mexico border. They are a fascinating example of the way many people living at border see it as a fluid boundary, not at all clear-cut. Why Society is Still Uncomfortable with Women's Anger and How to Bring About Change (51:08)Guest: Soraya Chemaly, Director of the Women's Media Center Speech Project and Author of “Rage Becomes Her”“I am angry and I own it,” wrote Democratic Presidential Candidate Elizabeth Warren in an email to supporters over the weekend. She was responding to attacks from her white male political rivals on the campaign trail –Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg, in particular –who criticized Warren's “angry” “my way or the highway” approach. Our society does not consider anger an attractive emotion. But there's a double standard, as media critic and author Soraya Chemaly points out passionately in her recent TED Talk and book called “Rage Becomes Her.” White men can get away with showing anger a lot easier than women or people of color in America. Life after the Asteroid: Fossils Show How Mammals Thrived after the Extinction of the Dinosaurs (1:11:55)Guest: Tyler Lyson, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology, Denver Museum of Nature & Science66 million years ago, an asteroid struck the Yucatan Peninsula and caused a catastrophic mass extinction. It wiped out the dinosaurs, but not much was known about what happened to the survivors of the impact until recently. A team of paleontologists have discovered a treasure trove of fossil remains allowing them to piece together a vivid picture of life's recovery after the dinosaurs. When Play is Serious Business (1:30:12)Guest: Rachel Wadham, Host, Worlds Awaiting on BYUradio, Education and Juvenile Collections Librarian, BYURachel is the education and juvenile collections librarian at BYU and host of Worlds Awaiting here on BYUradio talking about serious play.
Kirk Hawkins, BYU, on the upheaval in Latin America. David A. Rosenbaum, University of California Riverside, on precrastination. Lisa Elliott, El Paso Community College, on the Mormon colonies in Mexico. Soraya Chemaly from the Women’s Media Center Speech Project on women's anger. Tyler Lyson from the Denver Museum of Nature & Science on asteroid fossils. Rachel Wadham from Worlds Awaiting, BYUradio.
In this full episode of "Exploring Minds", Michele Carroll and Soraya Chemaly explore the main concepts in Soraya's book Rage Becomes Her, including intersectionality, the effects of internalized anger and the gender wage gap. - Soraya Chemaly is an award-winning writer and media critic whose writing appears regularly in national and international media including The Atlantic, The Nation, Verge, Quartz, TIME, Salon, The Guardian and The New Statesman. She speaks frequently on topics related to inclusivity, free speech, sexualized violence, data and technology. She is the director of the Women’s Media Center Speech Project an initiative dedicated to expanding women’s civic and political participation. She currently serves on the national boards of the Women's Media Center and Women, Action and the Media, as well as on the advisory councils of the Center for Democracy and Technology, VIDA, and Common Sense Media. As an activist, Ms. Chemaly has spear-headed multiple successful campaigns challenging corporations to address online harassment and abuse, restrictive content moderation and censorship, and institutional biases that affect free speech. Prior to 2010, Ms. Chemaly spent more than fifteen years as a market development executive and consultant in the media and data technology industries. In the early 1990s, after several years at the Gannett Corporation, where she was involved in establishing the newspaper industry’s first subscriber and advertisers databases, she moved into the datatech sector with Claritas Inc. These work experiences give her unique insights into internet data development, leading her to fight vigorously again their abuses. In 2013, Soraya won the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s (AEJMC)'s Donna Allen Award for Feminist Advocacy and the Secular Woman Feminist Activism Award. In 2014, she was named one of Elle Magazine's 25 Inspiring Women to Follow in social media. In 2016, Soraya was the recipient of the Women’s Institute for Freedom of the Press’s Women and Media Award. In 2017, she was the co-recipient of the Newhouse Mirror Award for Best Single Feature of 2016 for an in-depth investigative report on free speech and online content moderation, The Secrets of The Internet, and a Wikipedia Distinguished Service Award, for exemplary contributions to the advancement of public knowledge and the collection, development, and dissemination of educational content. She is the author of the book, Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Anger. In 2013, she won the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s (AEJMC)'s Donna Allen Award for Feminist Advocacy and the Secular Woman Feminist Activism Award. In 2014, she was named one of Elle Magazine's 25 Inspiring Women to Follow on Twitter. She writes and speaks regularly about gender, media, tech, education, women's rights, sexual violence and free speech. - SUPPORT US ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/exploringmindsshow FOLLOW ALONG FOR UPDATES AND NEW EPISODES: Discord - https://discord.gg/YhaAcN3 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/exploringmindsshow Twitter - https://twitter.com/ExploreMinds_TV Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/exploreminds_tv/ Website - exploringminds.show — Exploring Minds with Michele Carroll is the online show committed to exploring the world beyond talking points. Thank you for listening! Support the show.
Soraya Chemaly, author, activist, and director of the Women’s Media Center Speech Project, challenges the idea that democracy in the United States was ever unbroken, unpacks the negative and sometimes violent reactions to women who show political ambition, and explains how culture and gender frame the way we think about technology.
"Our anger has all this information, it has all this expertise, it has all this experience and we should respect it in ourselves and in other women." - Soraya Chemaly This episode is brought to you in collaboration with Fast Mary's. Today's featured interview is with Soraya Chemaly. She is the author of Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Anger, named a Best Book of 2018 by NPR, Washington Post and others, including some of our favorites Autostraddle, Psychology Today, and Bitch magazine. This book is about the ways that the social construction of emotion, anger in particular, affect women’s personal, professional and political equality. Chemaly is a prolific writer whose work focuses on the role of gender and identity in culture, education and technology. She is also the director of the Women’s Media Center Speech Project, an initiative devoted to expanding women’s civic and political participation. Connect with Soraya and learn more about her work on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Soraya's book recommendations: Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Brittney Cooper Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women's Anger by Rebecca Traister The Power by Naomi Alderman In this episode, I also chat with Kristen and Kerry, two of the organizers of 24in48, a 48 hour readathon happening January 26-27. Participants will have an opportunity to win a three month subscription Feminist Book Club box so sign up here if you're feeling lucky: https://24in48.com/ Or if you prefer a little more control in your life, use code PODCAST to get a discount on your February box at feministbookclub.com/subscribe. Connect with the #24in48 community on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter. About today's sponsor: Fast Mary’s Bloody Mary Enhancer is a naturally vegan, gluten-free, Bloody Mary seasoning concentrate. Handcrafted and infused to perfection, Fast Mary's turns any ordinary Bloody Mary into the ultimate culinary concoction. Learn more at fastmarys.com Website: feministbookclub.com Instagram: @feministbookclubbox Facebook: Feminist Book Club Twitter: @fmnstbookclub Email newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dvRgvD - Logo and web design by Shatterboxx Original music by @amiofficialmusic Transcript for this episode: bit.ly/FBCtranscript3 Get $5 off your Feminist Book Club Box with the code PODCAST at feministbookclub.com/subscribe.
This week on Pop Culture Confidential it's all about rage! Joining us is Soraya Chemaly, author of the provocative, infuriating and inspiring new book “Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Anger.” Ms Chemaly has written for Time magazine, The Guardian and The Atlantic. She is an activist and the director of the Women’s Media Center Speech Project. In our interview we talk about her new book, her research into women’s anger and rage, how women are taught and conditioned by society to suppress anger and how it can be a powerful tool in our lives. We talk about recent events such as how Serena Williams was penalized at the U.S. Open for arguing with the umpire, the Kavanaugh hearings, Jordan Peterson and so much more.
Show #219 | Guest: Soraya Chemaly | Show Summary: Show #219 | October 20, 2018 | Women get told to smile - a lot. Research shows that a neutral expression is perceived on a man's face as neutral, but as angry or negative on a woman. And all kinds of ugly words are reserved for woman who show anger. Where others see female anger as something to fear or reject, Soraya Chemaly sees strength, even opportunity. With the Women's Media Center Speech Project, and as organizer of the Safety and Free Speech Coalition, she's pushed for wider exposure of women's voices, and worked to curb online abuse. Now, she's encouraging women to embrace their rightful anger. In her new book Rage Becomes Her, Chemaly links patriarchy and misogyny to the traditional repression of women's full range of emotion. She goes beyond simple rejection of "Smile, honey!" to an embrace of anger as a personally and politically transformative tool. Soraya Chemaly joins Angie Coiro in a provocative conversation about a downright dangerous idea.
Soraya Chemaly Director of the Women's Media Center Speech Project, talks about her new book “Rage Becomes Her” and political equality.