‘Lift the lid, and there’s a well of rage’: why women are mad as hell (and not afraid to show it)

‘It’s a total release.’ Photograph: Martina Lang/The Guardian. Hair and makeup: Neusa Neves at Arlington Artists. Model: Rebecca P at Nevs Models Photograph: Martina Lang/The Guardian

There is a jar of severed heads sitting on the windowsill of Gemma Whiddett’s waiting room. China heads, to be precise, that customers have gleefully smashed from the shoulders of figurines she finds in charity shops. She drops the latest head into the jar, with a satisfying clink: all ready for the next session.

Whiddett manages Rage Rooms in Norwich, where customers can make an appointment to smash up heaps of unwanted crockery, small electrical appliances and miscellaneous jumble, using scaffolding poles. The concept first caught on in Japan as a way of working off stress, before spreading across the US and Europe, and is promoted as a fun, liberating means of venting everyday frustrations. And in Norwich around two-thirds of the customers are women.