WHAT MAKES AMERICAN MEN SO ANGRY?

Confession Of An Angry Man

Anger is like alcoholism. You can control it, but it’s always there. Always an alcoholic; always an angry man. I feel I know this because I have eyes, and because I have been an angry man all my life. And every man I know is the same.

Why are men angry? I don’t know that anyone has gotten to the root of it. We see men expressing their anger in different ways and contexts every day. Toward Democrats or Republicans, toward people of a different color or culture, toward “deplorables” or “libtards”, toward women, toward bosses, toward our children, toward drivers, toward referees and umpires, toward judges, toward pets, even toward inanimate objects. No one and nothing are exempt.

I have done all of these more than once. Sometimes anger, sometimes even rage. But I don’t think men’s anger is bottom-line about any of those things.

What Are Anger And Rage?

I spent a fair amount of time studying the psychological descriptions of anger and rage. But to me, they had no substance or feeling to them. They seemed to be written by people who had never experienced rage. So I turn to my own experience.

Anger and rage are both destructive, but in different ways. Anger usually extends much longer, is more subtle (people can cover it up for a while), and affects things indirectly more than directly. Rage on the other hand is explosive, spontaneous, overwhelming and often violent.