Warships filled with American soldiers were moored in the waters surrounding Victoria, B.C., hoping to take leave on shore. Submarines powered by nuclear reactors and filled with nuclear warheads lingered under the surface of the water.
Eleven women, aware of the threat near their homes, came together to say something about it. They used the name “Raging Grannies” for the first time in 1987, sparking an international movement of granny activism that continues to this day, including here in Calgary.
Granny activism can be skimmed down to performance protest, but by design, it is nuanced and strategic. Raging Grannies arrive at a protest wearing long, colourful skirts, huge wide-brimmed hats, something crochet and something dangling with pearls ready to take government corruption to bat. They embrace their age as a source of strength and mock stereotypes about older women in the process.
Mary Oxendale-Spensley, a member of Calgary’s Raging Grannies, didn’t want to buy into the stereotype of a “little old lady” at first but found more people listened that way.
“I got to thinking, you know, I’m coming here by myself, and it’s kind of scary. I’m having to arrive by myself, and I’m having to leave by myself. Well, if I joined those grannies, I’m going to have somebody to be with, it’s going to be safer, and I’m going to have some companionship,” said Oxendale-Spensley. “It’ll be more fun.”
Calgary’s Raging Grannies meet on the second and fourth Fridays of every month. Donna Dale, granny and herstorian, has been with the group since its inception on July 7, 1998, along with OJ Zawalsky. In 1993, Zawalsky thought about joining the grannies but ultimately decided against it — at least, not until her hair had turned white.
“Christmas ‘98, the [Calgary] grannies came and sang at the Christmas party of an abuse group that I belonged to,” Zawalsky said. “The next spring, they were with Friends of Medicare at McDougall Centre. So, I got somebody’s card.”
The Raging Grannies: Defying Stereotypes and Embracing Aging Through Activism, written by Dana Sawchuck in the Journal of Women and Aging contains interviews with 15 different grannies. Sawchuck found they all viewed their age as an asset to their political passions, not a liability.
One participant said that “being a grandmother is belonging to the generation of women who are past the years of needing anyone’s permission to do anything… a grandmother is just her own person.”
Of course, “women” is a broad category. Historically, the Raging Grannies are made up of mostly white, middle-class and educated women. In the depths of granny literature, which isn’t very deep, few studies have been done on intersectional practices within different granny groups, also known as gaggles. The findings all suggest that granny activism is very effective in diverse, intergenerational spaces, where the grannies can utilize their privilege to assist safer protest experiences for racialized activists.
