“Feel My Rage”: Angry Feminist Claims and Affective Mobilization

Abstract

In this article, I ask, “How do angry feminist claims get heard?” Angry feminist claims, I argue, inform, and mobilize by resonating with empathetic communities, legitimating feelings and experiences, and triggering energetic transfers among feminists and non-feminists. Through analysis of the 2018 protests of the nomination and confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court, I illustrate how angry feminist claims can be reclaimed as rational expressions of injustice, prompting divergent responses among differently situated audiences. Further, I demonstrate how anger as part of an affective appeal activates those attuned to hearing angry feminist claims as rational and legitimate, while simultaneously being challenged by intragroup intersectional differences.