Women's No War Nude Rally, Goonengerry, 8th February, 2003
Image: © Peter Carette / Icon Images

A Positive Skin on Peace

I have been spouting off in the world press about this group of amazing women in Marin County, USA, whose picture in a newspaper stopped the world, as I knew it, and shifted me into the type of determination and concentration that I have only ever experienced whilst giving birth.

I kept looking at you gals' pic in the paper on the table in front of me and my tears kept rolling and rolling. I was angry, I was sad, I was frustrated and the tears kept rolling.

I was angry that I could see through the US and Ozzie propaganda that was set up to strike fear in the hearts of the population so that our governments could convince their respective communities to accept their plans to murder innocents in Iraq.

I am not a political person. Until now I felt unable to have an opinion that I would publicly talk about, for fear of easily being shut down by someone who knew their politics and policies. However I have realised you don't need to be Einstein to work out what's going on here and that from the point of view of a Mother and a female, THIS IS WRONG. And knowing that, it was my duty to say so, from a Mother's point of view.

My journalist friend Kate wrote a very moving and honest letter of invitation to the women of the shire, which we spammed through e-mail, asking the recipient to forward it on to her female friends.

I did interviews all over Australia saying what we were about to do. This helped the women to participate. They needed a vehicle that would give them the opportunity to have a very loud and strong voice.

My filmmaker friends and peace activist friends helped me to keep my promise of protecting the women's modesty, by finding a secure site where we could stop prying photographers - with enormous lenses. An ultralight pilot offered to take our video cameraman up to get overhead shots for TV news footage. A paparazzi friend and his wife offered to take the photos and to have them up on the Web for world press to access. My dear friend Michele, who's an art director, brought another art director along. To mark out the site, so that the women would be in frame for the shot, we placed the cameraman 20 meters up a tree. The men of our community came together respecting the women and protecting the space and the boundary line to the property from unwanted guests.

Others women were marshals to form the letters clearly and one woman stood up to keep the women focused. An “aummmmm”, which changed shape and pitch, which massaged us, which connected us. That sound lasted for ten minutes whilst the last few stragglers came running up the hill disrobing as they ran to join their sisters.

We got our shots in minutes and as fast as the women came, they left. I finished two interviews and went back to the site and it was empty! Had this happened? No chit-chat, no bogged cars, no lost knickers. GONE. 750 women disappeared in minutes. The pictures were used by media worldwide, as was the TV footage we shot.

To the women of Marin County: Please know that your courage has and is continuing to inspire women the world over. Thank you for waking ME up. God bless us all, the world over, and save us from the desperate men in our governments.

Grace Knight, singer & songwriter, Byron Bay