Fighting Women: Anger and Aggression in Aboriginal Australia

Fighting is common among contemporary Aboriginal women in Mangrove, Australia. Women fight with men and with other women—often with “the other woman.” Victoria Burbank’s depiction of these women offers a powerful new perspective that can be applied to domestic violence in Western settings.

Noting that Aboriginal women not only talk without shame about their angry emotions but also express them in acts of aggression and defense, Burbank emphasizes the positive social and cultural implicatio...