When Donald Trump dismissed Greta Thunberg this week as a “young, angry person” and mocked her detention during her humanitarian mission to Gaza, it was a classic deflection tactic. A man rattled by a woman young, principled, and loud.

Greta’s reply was simple, honest, and brilliant:

“I think the world needs many more young angry women.”

She’s right.

Anger has always been treated as unbecoming in women. Something we’re meant to outgrow, tuck away, tidy up. Sadness? That’s acceptable. Women crying is a familiar image. But angry women? That’s threatening. Unpredictable. “Unlikable.”

But here’s the truth: anger is not a flaw. It’s a compass. And when the world is on fire—literally and metaphorically, it is right to be angry.

Greta was kidnapped by Israeli forces while trying to deliver aid to Gaza. Over 54,000 Palestinians have been killed in this outrageous genocide. Trump’s response was not just cruel, it was predictable and pathetic. mock the emotion so you can ignore the issue.

But Greta’s anger, like so many other women’s, is rooted in clarity. She has spent years channelling it,  first towards climate justice, now toward Palestine. And she’s not alone. Emma González after Parkland, Malala Yousafzai, Ridhima Pandey... all of them angry, and non of them violent. Leaders on their own merit. 

Girls and women around the world are tired of being told to be  “too much.” Tired of being told to “calm down” while injustice continues.

The world wants women busy with other things. Dieting. Looking for their “other half", trying to be perfect enough. 

But we need angry women. Loud women. Brave women. Women who use their fury to organise, to protest, to write, to lead.

Anger, when listened to, becomes fuel. It becomes movement. It tells us: something is wrong, and we don’t have to accept it.

And yes, sadness plays a role too. Sadness carries wisdom. It’s the emotion women have been allowed to embody for centuries. But sadness alone doesn’t change systems. Anger does. It is time to grieve and be sad, but also to act and speak up. 

Trump mocked Greta because he’s scared of what she represents: a generation of young women who aren’t asking for permission anymore. Who won’t be shamed into silence. Who know exactly why they’re angry, and have the language and courage to act on it.

So yes, Greta. We do need more young angry women. We are grateful for each of you. 

We need all of them. We need them to lead. To shout. To build. To burn down the scripts that were never written with us in mind.

Being angry isn’t the problem, in fact, it might be the beginning of the solution.