10c. Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp

Some women’s peace movements are radical ideologically and also in terms of their methods and tactics.

Let’s return to the topic of the anti-nuclear movement. There were many gender-related metaphors around the nuclear arms race, then and now. For example, Helen Caldicott, who you met in the film If You Love This Planet, authored a book called Missile Envy (think a bit about the analogy here!) and numerous cartoons about nuclear weapons featured penises as missiles. These images were revived in the 21st century in light of the North Korea-United States standoff on nuclear weapons.

One of the most interesting peace movements that opposed the development, proliferation, and use of nuclear weapons was the Greenham Common Peace Camp, a movement that consisted primarily of women. This was a movement that was quite radical ideologically (or at least was perceived as such) and adopted tactics that were viewed as extreme by some.

On September 5, 1981, about forty women, men, and children marched from Cardiff, Wales to an American air base at Greenham Common in southern England. They were protesting the imminent deployment of ninety-six cruise missiles. On arrival, they pitched tents outside the base and refused to leave until all missiles were removed. Much to the surprise of the world looking in, the operators of the air base, and the activists themselves, the ‘peace camp’ maintained a constant presence for almost twenty years, finally closing in 2000.

The peace campers were predominantly women, although men would join for specific direct actions. Their tactics were nonviolent, but some were illegal and thus would be classified as civil disobedience.

Here are some of the events and tactics adopted over the years:

• Camps were established at all nine access gates of the base; each gate was assigned a colour of the rainbow.
• A carnival and festive atmosphere was created: loud music was played; the fencing was covered with balloons, children’s clothing and diapers – the women were expressing concerns as mothers for the future of their children; they also covered the fence with string to depict the ‘web of life.’
• Women dressed up as furry animals and entered the site for a teddy bear’s picnic. They sent messages through the base telephone system, demanding that the airplanes fly food to Africa instead of missiles.

What was their impact and significance?

• Women and journalists from around the world visited the camp; they received a lot of media attention.
• The women were subject to ridicule. Some people thought they were all lesbians and vegetarians! Of course, some of them were, but in that era such identities were not respected. They were also thought to be communists, in light of Cold War politics. In general, the women were considered fringe and extreme.
• The movement was both conservative (emphasis on women as mothers) and radical (bold tactics of civil disobedience).
• The American military sometimes zapped the camps with microwave or ultrasound frequencies, allegedly causing health problems for the campers.
• Their dedication, longevity as a movement, and creative tactics, had an educational impact worldwide. This undoubtedly strengthened pressure for governments to disarm.

This was a peace movement that was explicitly feminist and pacifist in ideology. Their message of peace drew on the maternal instincts of mothers who wanted to protect their children from nuclear war.