A while ago, to amuse myself, I ran a search through my text archive for the phrase “I can’t stand it”, which delivered pages and pages of returns. Some recent things I can’t stand, in no particular order: the phrase “clutching her pearls”; a very obviously made-up anecdote in a big profile in a major magazine; someone’s passive aggressive use of the word “anyway” in an email; a reporter friend’s colleague who, every time she finishes a story, goes into the system and changes two small things on it so he can shoehorn his name next to hers on the byline; David Beckham sucking up to the royals; Jimmy Fallon’s large face; the opening episode of the Russell T Davies show Tip Toe; weather, specifically high wind.
If I was transported with rage by all of these things, I assumed it was a byproduct of age. You can’t miss the sheer amount of menopause content floating around at the moment telling us how age makes us angry, even though, apparently, the menopause remains a taboo (it could be more of a taboo!). As it turns out, however, it isn’t just me and other women in midlife who are furious, but rather British women in general, and to a degree that outstrips our counterparts in other countries. I take surveys with a pinch, but this particular poll was extensive, organised by a global health initiative in which 76,000 women worldwide were questioned about their physical and emotional wellbeing. Last week, the findings were released, including the fact that British women are among the angriest in Europe – angrier than the Germans, Swiss, French and Dutch – and that we’re getting angrier with each passing year.
