Anger : The Misunderstood Emotion

Rating:
Summary: A very well-done book on an important topic
Review: Tavris has authored a fine book on an important topic. She is a social psychologist which is a blessing because it allows her to review research rather than focus on her own navel (a.k.a. "clinical experience"). She does a fine job of refuting the frustration agression hypothesis even though it still seems impossible for people to accept the reality that individuals create their own anger and circumstances (such as traffic) have little to do with their emotional reactions to events. Tey to ignore the silly psychoabble of some of the other reviewers...probably Freudians anyway!

Rating:
Summary: All the old norms and myths in a new package
Review: This book is extremely well written and contains many fascinating little tidbits of info on history, culture, religion and philosophy, but it was ultimately a bad book on anger. Anger is indeed the "misunderstood emotion" and Dr. Tavris understands it least of all. For her it is a mere social and/or political construct that is bad and can be programmed away. Her attitude reminds me of that old Twilight Zone eppisode aboute the society where everyone had to think "happy thoghts" all the time because the dictator could read your mind and would do horrible things to you if you weren't sunny and joyful. It seems obvious to me that the feelings in the rich spectrum of human emotions are fundamentally good because they were given to us by nature to enhance our survival if used properly. "Dark" emotions such as anger are tools to protect the self and the soul against physical or spiritual predators. Certainly many people overemphasize anger, but they are usually people who have been hurt a lot, so their defense systems have been programmed to be over-active. In her zeal against this emotion, Dr. Tavris glorifies cultures and religions that share her distaste for expressions of anger. Two of her favorites tend to be the early Christians (before the converion of the barbarians) and the traditional Japanese. Admittedly both of these groups had good traits, but they obviosly suffered from their rigid emotional control. For instance, they turned their anger against themselves. Frankly, I would rather live in a culture that tolerates a little too much swearing and bickering than cultures where the highest expression of virtue is to be fed to lions or to impale oneself on a sword. Of course, the martyrs and the samurai accepted their fates graciously with a smile (or at least not a grimace) on their faces, so Tavris considers them paragons of mental health. Jews, on the other hand, tend to complain and fight back when they are oppressed and hurt (imagine that!) so they figure in (along with Arabs) as one of Dr. Tavris' least favorite ethnic/religious groups. Of course, her anti-Semitism is very sugar-coated and non-angry. She doesn't hate the Jews, she just wishes they would be nice and stop being so overly expressive and sarcastic. And, even though her political convictions seem pretty left-wing (in a genteel, Ivy League cocktail party sense), she does not seem to see anger as playing a legitimate role in motivating feminists, gay people or minorities to revolutionary change. She is not against much needed social change, of course. They should just be done in a polite manner. P.S. Have a happy, anger-free day! (laugh)