Transforming Fire: Women Using Anger Creatively

Transforming Fire: Women Using Anger Creatively. By Kathleen Fischer. New York and Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist Press, 1999. vi + 201 pp. $14.95 (paper).

Anyone who has ever struggled with anger will find Kathleen Fischer's Transforming Fire a thought-provoking and useful resource. Fischer directs her book, however, primarily at women because she rightfully insists that culture shapes both the experience and the expression of emotion (p. 10), and that within Western Christian society, women especially have been taught that their anger is inappropriate and unacceptable. Some women struggle with restraint and the appropriate expression of anger while others struggle to identify anger so that it does not turn into self-hatred or depression. Fischer argues that in either case, the originating feelings in and of themselves are morally neutral. In response to the general perception of the unacceptability of women's anger, she insists that the moral question is not "Are my feelings good or bad?" but "What do I do with what I feel?" (p. 9).

This claim is especially important with respect to anger, because within Christian circles, anger is identified as one of the seven deadly sins, and because as a culture, we often fear anger as the antithesis of love. In response, Fischer maintains that recognizing and expressing anger well is an intrinsic dimension of loving well. She argues that anger is a sign that an individual "cares enough about the relationship to deal with the real issues in it" (p. 97). Since anger has the power to build better connections between persons, we need to learn to recognize anger that is often masked or buried and deal with it constructively. To this end, Fischer's book aims to help us reconceptualize our experiences of anger. It is also in many respects a practicum in the healthy expression of anger.

The first part of the book is designed to help persons recognize and name their anger. Here Fischer draws especially upon Buddhist traditions of mindfulness and therapeutic methods of bodily awareness. I found this the most interesting part of the book, but clearly, different persons will respond to different segments of Fischer's presentation. Successive chapters point to various reactions to, preconceptions about, and experiences of anger. In each instance, Fischer's aim is self-awareness and mental reframing. Once we have identified our anger, its source, and our habitual style of dealing with anger, Fischer leads us through various methods of constructively expressing anger and resolving conflict. Fischer also deals with systemic sources of women's rage, particularly physical and emotional violence against women, and confronts head on traditional theological motifs that might encourage women not only to swallow anger but to remain within unjust relationships or submit to emotional violence. She names God as the power of anger in the resistance of injustice.

This book is designed either to be read as a whole or consulted on a specific topic of interest. It draws upon Fischer's experience in counseling and spiritual direction. It integrates Buddhist, Jewish, and Christian resources and perspectives. This work is at times theological, at times psychological, at times commonsense. It would be especially useful to those who counsel women, but anyone who has experienced anger will find something of use here because it both challenges familiar paradigms about anger and reminds us of what we already know. In either case, most will find this a good read.

SHAWN MADISON KRAHMER

Saint Joseph's University

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Copyright Anglican Theological Review, Inc. Summer 2002
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