The Raging Grannies
Raging Grannies at their 2018 Un-Convention (Source: www.raginggrannies.org
An enduring presence in political protests in Canada, the Raging Grannies began their activism in 1987. Using creativity, humour, and song as their approach to raising awareness and resisting challenges to social and political rights, these grandmothers – an assortment of professionals, academics, activists, artists, and homemakers, aged 50 and above – are committed to dismantling systems of oppression.
A beginning
The women who came to become The Raging Grannies were originally part of a peace group, where they were often met with sexism and ageism. They were relegated to taking care of feeding the group, and their ideas were never given attention or value. Resisting the ageism and sexism on the one hand, the Raging Grannies came together to resist the threats posed by US Navy warships and submarines potentially powered by nuclear reactors and/or equipped with nuclear arms, to the waters surrounding Victoria, Canada.
Many of the women were lifelong activists in one way or another. They were concerned by the lack of attention to civilian needs both in nuclear weapons development and deployment, as well as in evacuation plans. Their protests took on an imaginative flavour: Starting out with street theatre, the Raging Grannies focused on drawing attention to the presence of the US vessels in the harbour. They wore lab coats, and created props to demonstrate Geiger counters and turkey basters. Their street theatre at popular malls showed them going about, collecting samples of water puddles and testing them for radiation. As bystanders watched on, they asked questions about what the women were doing, and the Raging Grannies educated them about the US vessels, raising awareness on an issue that had not been addressed in the mainstream media. They called themselves the Nuclear Emergency Response Team.
When the Chernobyl tragedy unfolded, the women realized that their efforts had to be stronger. Renaming themselves as Raging Grannies, on February 14, 1987, they offered their MP, Pat Crofton, the then Chairman of the Defence Committee of Canada, an un-Valentine, which looked like a broken heart to draw attention to his lack of commitment and action on nuclear issues. They rewrote a lullaby with satirical lyrics, and performed it while sitting under an umbrella full of holes to satirically symbolize the absurdity of sheltering under a nuclear umbrella. They protested at the British Columbia legislature shortly after, during the government’s hearings on uranium mining. They carried a laundry basket full of women’s underwear, saying that they had “briefs” to present at the hearings – putting a spin on the word briefs and highlighting the laundry basket as a symbol of women’s work, to poke fun at the pompous nature of these hearings.
With this, the women had firmly entrenched themselves in the Canadian protest landscape: They were here to stay.
Resisting with Laughter
Parodying stereotypes of older women, the Raging Grannies have been at the forefront of using satire to protest. They lean on irreverence and radical imagination to question militarism and the need for nuclear weapons, while also subverting stereotypical notions about aged women in public spaces. They once rode into a military base in a horse-drawn carriage carrying flowers, and were stopped outside and told they could not go in, and were asked to leave. However, submarines carrying nuclear weapons were allowed into the base. They sowed seeds of ambiguity and doubt in people’s minds, as they began reflecting on the paradoxical situation that wouldn’t allow a peaceful group of grandmothers with flowers to move about, but would normalize the development, deployment, and movement of nuclear weapons.
The Raging Grannies happily showed up at parties, receptions, commissions, and hearings, hoping to draw attention to disarmament and countering militarism. Once, during a trade show of high-tech military products in Victoria, there was an active desire on part of the establishment to keep protesters away, as they did not want to put the uniformed officers from the US in distress. However, the Grannies showed up dressed in military uniforms – a strategic move knowing that anyone with military uniforms had free entry. They added the loudest of baubles and cellophane paper to their uniforms, and were prevented from entering, but made enough of a commotion for the media to pick up on their presence and report on their issues.
A year later, they signed up as volunteers in the Armed Forces Recruitment Office when the threat of war in the Gulf emerged. The recruitment office was baffled, because they couldn’t ask the grandmothers for their age by law, and had to process the paperwork. Some were invited back and they showed up with knitting needles, wool, and a commitment to conflict resolution through dialogue. Later in the 1990s, they threatened to disrupt the Commonwealth Games should US nuclear vessels continue to be allowed in Victoria.
Making impact
The Raging Grannies made significant strides with their efforts on ground. They also grew in numbers, with around 60 chapters forming world over. They don’t have a structure or organizational format for mobilizing, but host Un-Conventions every two years to deliberate on pressing issues. They also have chapters in Europe, as well.
Their impact in terms of outcomes have been tremendous. For one thing, they influenced the implementation of significant changes at the military base, which bought new equipment and deployed a crew of 24 personnel monitoring nuclear radiation 24 hours a day whenever US vessels were in the harbour, and made it impermissible for the base commander to leave Victoria when US ships are in the harbour. Another time, they resisted a homophobic city council through a march in 1998, with the slogan, “Closets are for Brooms.”
The Raging Grannies are a powerful example of feminist foreign policy in action. For one thing, they have held Canada accountable to international standards around the prohibition on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, and to rules of disarmament. They ground themselves in the values of educating people and centring human awareness and agency in their activism, while also being radical in their imagination, creativity, and use of the arts and laughter. Evoking humour and creativity requires both wit and courage – for speaking truth to power without losing levity is also to show up by centring humanity.
References
Acker, Alison (1990) . “They’re coming…: Raging grannies’ ranks swell.” National News. Doyle Collection.
Burns, John (1992). “Raging Grannies.” Canadian Theatre Review 72: 21-24.
Roy, Carole (n.d.). The Original Raging Grannies: Using Creative and Humorous Protests for Political Education. https://raginggrannies.org/herstory/
Chodan, Lucinda (1989). “Raging Grannies combat war.” The Gazette (Montreal). 26 August:H3.
Ciriani, Jean (1989). “Grannies all the rage.” The Cowichan News Leader (Duncan). 12 April:3.
Foley, Dennis (1990). “Raging Grannies Afloat: Nuclear ships on hit list.” The Ottawa Citizen.21 April 1990: 3.
Howard, Keith (1989). “Those Comic Raging Grannies.” The United Church Observer 53.3:14-15.
