Knickers to War™ honours women like Anna Johnson.

Anna protested at Greenham Common for 18 months, against the presence of nuclear missiles.

The exhibition explained that, at the time, Newbury Council had attempted to change the byelaws, to make the women’s camps at Greenham Common illegal, but this was overturned by the House of Lords. Anna had contributed a pair of pants to the “Knickers to the Byelaws” campaign, and a photo of them, pinned to the railings, is on display at the museum.

The humour used by activists at Greenham Common was cheeky, strategic and brilliantly political. It serves as a reminder that resistance to war – and challenging the ideology and narratives behind all violence – can be intelligent, human and, importantly, nonviolent. (Research by Erica Chenoweth suggests that nonviolent civil resistance is far more successful in creating broad-based change than violent campaigns).

The tactic (of using underwear) was intentionally playful and confrontational, using humour to undermine potentially harmful authoritarianism at the time. It was a way of reclaiming agency in a militarised space, and highlighted how male-dominance, in a variety of forms, limits choices for women, and tries to oppress them.

“Knickers to the Byelaws” mocked the absurdity of the way women’s bodies were being policed (and of criminalising peaceful protest), while simultaneously pointing to the spending of millions (now billions) on armaments under the banner of “safety” – it begs us to ask the question “whose safety”?

Because with or without war, women are still predominantly harmed by violent men.

This website honours these women and in particular recognises the relevance of this conversation today.