As the BBC reported, women are turning to crowbars, baseball bats, mallets, and hammers to release pent-up emotions. Paul Bunney, the owner of The Rabbit Hole Rage Room in the UK, informed the outlet that 70% of his customers are women. Kate Cutler, a co-owner of another rage room, confirmed that female patrons are on the rise: She started her business while her now-late daughter was battling brain cancer.
The BBC dubbed rage rooms “the new must-do” and “a growing trend in the UK.” In 2021, murderer Janne Raninen made international headlines by opening his own rage room, Raivoomo, in Helsinki. However, the concept of rage rooms, now clearly an international phenomenon, dates back to 2008, perhaps earlier, and appears to be of Japanese origin.
Women are heading to these rage rooms to deal with loss, stress, relationship difficulties, trauma, etc. The BBC spoke with one woman, Ellie Goudie, who paid to smash some of the belongings left behind by her 23-year-old brother, Ryan Willis, after his death. Of his television, she stated, “That was his. He can’t have it any more, so no one should.” Since her brother wrote rap, that’s what she listened to during the process.
“You don’t get that release in therapy when you’re talking.”
Ceri Crannis told the BBC that she has struggled with mental health issues since the stillbirth of her daughter. She says, “You don’t get that release in therapy when you’re talking. There are some things that are just so deeply hidden […].” In addition to the release of negative emotions, rage room frequenters naturally experience adrenaline rushes.
Bunney mentions that he sometimes needs to have a chat with the women entering his establishment in order to help them free themselves. He confirms that the items destroyed within The Rabbit Hole are destined for landfills, so wastefulness is not an issue.
Rage Rooms Are Having a Moment, and Women Are Leading the Charge
It is no myth that women tend to have fewer spaces where expressing their anger would be considered socially acceptable. Women are more likely to be judged as overly emotional in daily life and to feel forced to repress their emotions, whether at work or while trying to play the role of stable parents.
Earlier this year, the BBC quoted therapist Shelly Dar, who told their own Radio 5 Live, “A lot of the problem for women nowadays is that we don’t want to be judged, so we have to keep all of these emotions in, playing the good girl role, maybe being the calm mother, the calm reflective parent, and we have been socialised to be nice.”
That said, of course, habits like weightlifting could be viewed as alternatives to rage rooms.
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