September 7, 1968: Miss America Protest

In the early 1920s women began to have a safe place outside the home. They were given more rights, not abused in the workplace, and were able to express themselves more freely. They stood up for what was right and in August of 1920 the 19th amendment was ratified; they were granted the right to vote. With this came responsibility, respect and much more freedom than they previously had. Also, the Miss America Organization started what is now a household name, the Miss America Pageant. It started as a way for the Atlantic City Boardwalk to hold tourism past Labor Day. It attracted many, from women wanting to participate in it, to people of all ages coming to watch. This Pageant was a product of its time, due to the previous decades of transformation for women in society. For many it was a time of expansion in social, political, and cultural activities for women. Not only did women in the workplace grow by 25%, but they began to express themselves more freely. They stopped following the Victorian norms that were pushed on them since birth. They became more modern by smoking cigarettes, dancing, and becoming more sexually liberated. They stopped wearing the normal clothing, and began to dress in clothing that allowed them to be active and were more comfortable. With their newfound liberations, they began to be sexual icons. With this came women wanting to show off what they had, making pageants a way to do so. Almost 100 years later, the Miss America Pageant is still a name that everyone knows. It is televised across the country and is a way for women to show their humanitarian ways, but mostly, their good looks. However, not everyone is the biggest fan. It emphasizes the idea that there is only one type of ideal women, and that anyone who does not follow those beauty standards is not equal. Many find the system flawed by how year after year there is a scary similarity between each year’s winners. Feminists have been questioning their system for years, the first public protest in 1968. On September 7th in 1968 the Atlantic City Boardwalk became flooded with angry women who found the pageant system flawed. They had girdles, curlers, and copies of popular magazines that over sexualized women. They called these “instruments of women-torture” and threw them into a plastic bin with the words “Freedom Trash Can” scrawled on it. Many onlookers heckled them, making fun of them for standing up for what they believed in. This protest brought a national spotlight to the Women’s Liberation Movement. Unlike previous riots against women’s oppression, this one came unknowingly to the public. It ran alongside the ongoing Miss America pageant, and it became a story that viewers heard loud and clear. Many women at home could understand and support these brave women for performing an unannounced protest right at the base of the issue, the actual pageant. Signs scattered the pier reading “Lets judge ourselves as people” or “Welcome to the Miss America cattle auction” or even “If you want meat, just go to the butcher”. Women of the time wanted to be seen as real people, not items. Even though they were standing up for their beliefs, feminists of the time were given a bad reputation. Carol Hanish led the protest and put the idea out to everyone. She later recalled that, “‘Bra-burner’ became a put-down term for feminists of my generation. The risqué implication of the term made the action embarrassing even to some feminists”. She believed that if there wasn’t such a negative connotation to being a feminist, nearly all women would have rushed to join.