Donald Trump tweeted on Friday that the women protesting about Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court were “paid professionals” and “#Troublemakers”. He was echoing a sentiment that has become common in Republican circles over the past few weeks, and even appeared in Kavanaugh’s testimony before the Senate: that the outpouring of rage and anguish from women across the country in response to allegations against Kavanaugh was some sort of conspiracy, a coordinated effort to manipulate victims and persecute men.

It’s not, of course. George Soros isn’t handing out wads of cash to women on the street and the Clintons aren’t organising some massive behind-the-scenes retribution. The anger voiced by American women is deeply felt.

A woman holds a placard during a protest against the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court, in Denver, Colorado. Credit:AP

One sign of the depth of that anger? Two new books have just been published on women’s rage: Rebecca Traister’s Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger and Soraya Chemaly’s Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Anger. Both works centre on the question of women’s anger in the age of Trump. And both present it – perhaps in overly optimistic ways – as the source for political change.

The rage is indeed real. It emerged from related events: the Access Hollywood tape and Donald Trump’s victory. The tape was a catalysing moment for women who were already tuned into Trump’s rough misogyny, the anti-woman animus that fuelled his attacks on Republican presidential nominee Carly Fiorina and Fox News’ Megyn Kelly. The tape contained a bald admission of assault, and many assumed it would prove disqualifying, especially as Trump vied for the presidency against Hillary Clinton, a woman with a far superior resume.