Women are allowed to be angry, but only if they are mothers

It starts out okay, exploring the double standards of women being allowed to express anger only if it is channeled as defense of their offspring.

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The historian Rebecca Traister says ‘mama-bear anger’ is the only form of female rage allowed by society.

...and quickly goes downhill claiming that this special status of "altruistic rage" is rough on mothers too.

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There is one exception: maternal rage – or, to give it its full, saccharine name, “mama-bear anger” – is not merely acceptable, but regarded with admiration, even awe. This is at its most pronounced when social conservatives talk about motherly fury in the animal kingdom: “Come between her and her young and that sweet-looking wombat/panda/seemingly harmless animal will hoof you in the head until you are dead.” It is biological determinism with a purpose (isn’t it always?): so long as the rage is rooted in altruism, it poses no challenge to the feminine ideal of someone who always puts herself last. The reverse-engineered lesson for a woman is that anger, while it may technically come from within, is actually generated by the biological externality of a baby, a bit like breast milk. It is not innate. It is just a magical thing she can do for the good of the tribe.

Altruism? I'm not seeing it, and one of the comments agreed:

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Wanderingone
Unless the child is adopted, it should be viewed as a badge of narcissism. Although there are undoubtedly other factors involved, part of the reason the anger of mothers may be more socially acceptable is due to the veneer of personal importance that comes with the authority of being a mother.

Well said.

This must be a thread plucked from the same fabric as the "only parents know what tired is" logic.

Problem is those mama-bear claws we hear so much about very rarely come out in response to legitimate concerns anymore. Instead, it's often times an exceedingly and unreasonably angry reaction to Moo not getting her own way or thinking that someone is being mean to her dumpling by telling it NO. And modern Moos wear their anger problems as a badge of honor when, in reality, they need fucking sedatives. These women are not putting themselves last, they're simply being their usual ME ME GIMME GIMME selves and using their children as an excuse for their terrible behavior (so business as usual, in other words).

In my experience, the anger of mothers is almost always totally unjustified because they overreact to every single thing they encounter that doesn't go their way (which is most likely due to a combination of being entitled and their kids driving them insane). They're nothing but grown-ass brats themselves throwing tantrums when they can't have what they want right now, only as adults, they're capable of throwing louder, longer, and much angrier tantrums, quite possibly with a little physical violence thrown in for good measure.

Being a parent doesn't justify anger any more or less than not being a parent.

I wonder what started this whole modern adult brat thing?? This is one question for the ages

I don't know a single person alive who thinks that 'Mama Bear Rage' is cool, let alone regard it with awe.

Agree with everything Cambion has stated above. Anger is an emotion that EVERYBODY feels, but moos take it to the max because they feel they're entitled.

If this so-called historian ends up on the business end of ridiculous moo-rage, she'd be changing her tune mighty fast.

More like entitlement.