The Raging Grannies are an international organization spanning across Canada, the United States, the UK, Australia, and Greece. They are dedicated to igniting in others the rage that they feel about corporate greed, violence, women’s rights, healthcare, war and militarism, environmental sustainability, and general social injustice. The first location started up in Canada over thirty years ago by a group of passionate women from various professions. Women around the world can start a branch or join an existing one to rage, that is, to advocate for change through public demonstrations, with the only requirements to join being “a sense of humor, a sense of outrage, and a commitment to non-violence.”
The Grannies’ advocacy is inspired by women’s collective acts of resistance before them and, in turn, will inspire generations of women coming after them. They have an unconventional, distinct approach to resistance: they challenge widespread cultural acceptance of female stereotypes by wearing colourful hats and singing songs. The songs come from a database of almost 700 jingles on reform and human rights such as “Earth Has A Fever,” “No Frackin, No Way!”, “Hungry Children,” “We Need Planned Parenthood,” and even Christmas tunes like “12 Days of Taxes.” Every couple of years, the Grannies from across North America gather at what they call an UnConvention. The philosophy here is that we can advocate for change using humour and rage, and that pushing boundaries in this way can lead to more publicity, attention, and ultimately more success.
We are not made to sit in a rocking chair and knit,” – Elizabeth Stern, Raging Grannies Member
Women’s activism and female-led reform have historically been overlooked and lost in the shadow of male-dominant policy work, and the Raging Grannies make it their mission to change this. For example, women in the past were particularly involved in organizing anti-slavery societies, publishing informative resources against slavery, circulating petitions, organizing conventions, and assisting in the escapes of fugitive enslaved people. Women’s resistance can no longer be lost to history, and the work of The Raging Grannies is a testament to this. The Raging Grannies are unveiling the impact that women’s collective rage has on fundamental issues, placing female advocacy at the forefront of our historical era.
The Raging Grannies also push barriers and resist suppressive, ageist norms that put older women in a restrictive box. I believe that the passion of an advocate does not disappear upon retirement – and we should never clock out from voicing our outrage at social injustice. Rather than passively accepting societal norms, we should feel called to continue to engage in change using the knowledge and wisdom that we hold at the end of our career. The legal profession gives us a special opportunity to have a social impact through our work and gives us an ethical duty to strive towards a more just society. The Raging Grannies inspire us to carry this idea of justice that grounds our current goals with us into our life after retirement.
“There's so much work to be done, there's the question of Peace, while weapon sales increase and foreign aid keeps going down. And our leaders of course, show no shame or remorse, supporting the slaughter called War so we'll rage and roar even more ‘til we clean up our country.”
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