1968 Protest Sparks Bra-Burning Myth

On September 7, 1968, a group of women from the New York Radical Women’s group staged a protest outside Atlantic City's Convention Hall. The protest was against the Miss America beauty pageant, which the group saw as reducing women’s personalities to body parts.

The group planned to throw items of 'female torture' into a metal Freedom Trash Can, including bras, girdles, high heels, hairspray, hair curlers, and copies of Playboy. While the activists initially hoped to set the contents ablaze, local police refused permission due to the wooden boardwalk’s fire hazard.

As a result, no bras were actually burnt. However, the myth of bra-burning originated with a piece by reporter Lindsy Van Gel of the New York Post, who compared the protest to anti-Vietnam War activists burning their draft cards. Other media outlets seized upon the phrase, giving the women’s movement its most enduring insult.

The widespread adoption of the 'bra burner' archetype exerted a lasting influence on how Second-Wave feminism was perceived. Despite this, the protest against the beauty pageant’s reduction of women’s personalities to body parts got its prominent place in the history of women’s liberation.

Women have progressed through the gates opened for them through the struggles of others who fought for their right to vote, get an education, and pursue a career. However, by focusing on undergarments, major media outlets shifted public attention away from the movement's significant political demands, such as equal pay, reproductive rights, daycare, and an end to racist and ageist beauty standards.

The 'bra burner' label reframed radical political dissidents as irrational, hysterical, or merely seeking sexual attention. Anti-feminist groups used the image of the 'bra-burning radical' to caricature activists as anti-male and unpatriotic. This rhetoric was weaponised during the 1970s and 1980s by conservative campaigns to portray the women's movement as a threat to traditional family structures.

Historian and Pulitzer Prize finalist Micki McElya has written a book, Liberation Summer: The Moment That Changed the Women's Movement and the Future of American Politics, which captures the transformative time of the women's liberation movement. The book lists women leaders and the organisations they formed and headed, the work they did, and the sacrifices they made so that other women could lead better, fuller lives.

Gloria Steinem, who went on to become a feminist leader, was a journalist covering the event. The book provides a meticulously researched and lucidly written account of the women's liberation movement and its significance in American politics.

The women's liberation movement is unarguably one of the most powerful socio-political movements of the 19th and 20th centuries. Despite the progress made, there is still a long way to go in achieving equal rights and opportunities for women. The movement's legacy continues to inspire and empower women to fight for their rights and challenge traditional beauty standards.

In conclusion, the 1968 protest outside Atlantic City's Convention Hall was a pivotal moment in the women's liberation movement. The myth of bra-burning has had a lasting impact on how the movement is perceived, but it is essential to remember the significant political demands and achievements of the women who fought for their rights.