The Resilience Myth

March 18, 2024
There is a growing knowledge gap “between what we need to achieve resilient outcomes and what we are culturally told we need,” according to this ambitious study from feminist and free speech activist Chemaly (Rage Becomes Her). Using a feminist and anticapitalistic framework to interrogate notions of resilience, the author posits that traditionally “male” values of rigid self-sufficiency can serve to isolate. As an alternative, she touts the use of “social connections, collaborative care, and shared resources” to adapt to challenges. (For example, she cites the pandemic-era refusal of masks and vaccines as proof of the sometimes “maladaptive” values of individualistic strength, with the disease disproportionately affecting the older white men who were most likely to reject preventive measures.) Elsewhere, she claims that corporate America’s “grind culture” impairs resilience; that expectations to “bounce back” after crises impede long-term healing; and that feeling “safe” in one’s body is key to facing the “uncertainty of anxiety-provoking life changes.” While those seeking actionable guidance might become frustrated with Chemaly’s tendency to think in broad strokes, readers who welcome a more conceptual take will appreciate her rigorous efforts to set forth an expansive view of resilience as adaptation. This is sure to spark conversation.

April 1, 2024
An activist upends prevailing notions about the nature of resilience. Current ideas about how to move forward from adversity stem from the belief that "self-sufficiency, mental toughness [and] strength" are the keys to overcoming hardship. However, Chemaly, author of Rage Becomes Her, suggests that true resilience emerges from cultivating "mutual dependence and interconnectedness" with others. She cites one case study that involved a group of nearly 700 Hawaiian children. Even though they grew up in adverse circumstances, by seeking community in schools, religious institutions, and the military and turning to psychotherapy, group members were able to thrive. Chemaly suggests that because American society is so obsessed with maintaining profitability and productivity regardless of circumstances, people struggle. "Resilience today is frequently defined in [a] trajectory from grief to happiness with productivity nestled in the middle," she writes. Soldiering on in the face of difficulties is expected. Admitting vulnerability, the way tennis champion Naomi Osaka did when she withdrew from the French Open in 2021 to protect her mental health, can lead to being stigmatized as weak. Such notions are harmful--as is the idea that resilience is just a matter of "bouncing back," which Chemaly argues is not only a fantasy, but a reflection of "modernity and its temporal requirements." Like the concept of soldiering on, "bouncing back" is an idea that focuses on positive future outcomes while glossing over the fact that it implies a return to "pre-existing and highly undesirable alienation." The only way out of this trap--which the author sees as an outgrowth of capitalistic excess--is rethinking resilience in terms of an ethic that includes caring, connection, and kindness. Thoughtful and well argued, this book offers a humane vision of the ways people must adapt their ideas of what it means to thrive to a radically changing world. Provocative, necessary reading.

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