Miss America Protests
Basic Facts:
The Miss America Protests were a turning point in Women's rights in America. Women began to feel objected, ostracized, and mostly, inferior to the male gender's horrible treatment towards them and their decisions. This discrimination was founded upon female oppression. This happened on September 7th, 1968.
One of the first things that happened was the marching around the "Freedom Trash Can", where the over 400 women threw products of women's oppression. The products thrown into the trash can were girdles, high heels, bras, and makeup, all of which were products that society pushed upon women to wear. The people behind this protest were called the New York Radical Women. These women had firm belief in the fact of equal treatment of the genders, and not using women as an object of piece of meat. They also boycotted that the Miss America Pageant did not support black Miss Americas. They stressed how racist the pageant was and how unfair and "ludicrous" the judges were. Let us also add that the judge panel was ALL MEN.
After the Freedom Trash Can, women had a "Cattle Auction". This is where 150 women paraded around with signs, and stressed that as cattle are worth more off of pure looks, the same principle did not apply to women. By not reaching society's standards, many, if not every woman and girl felt inferior to the fake, praised Miss America. It seemed as if unreachable beauty echoed in the minds of young and old women everywhere. Though this such beauty is nearly impossible to achieve without exuberant amounts of money, those women who spent the money and the time to look seemingly perfect were and still are praised for being the very image of society
- The Miss America Protests targeted the Miss America Pageant for protest.
- They staged a theoretical production outside of Atlantic City Convention Center Pageant on the day of the pageant.
- Brought national attention to eventually what came to be known as the Women's Liberation Movement.
- Began in 1968 and was organized by the N.Y.R.W (New York Radical Woman- see below)
- The main belief of the movement and protests was the opposition of the perfect woman in "Miss America Pageants" and the use of exclusive stereotypical feminine products.
- The protest was a major success; the "Freedom Trash Can" brought a lot of attention to the liberation movement arising.
The Miss America Protests were a turning point in Women's rights in America. Women began to feel objected, ostracized, and mostly, inferior to the male gender's horrible treatment towards them and their decisions. This discrimination was founded upon female oppression. This happened on September 7th, 1968.
One of the first things that happened was the marching around the "Freedom Trash Can", where the over 400 women threw products of women's oppression. The products thrown into the trash can were girdles, high heels, bras, and makeup, all of which were products that society pushed upon women to wear. The people behind this protest were called the New York Radical Women. These women had firm belief in the fact of equal treatment of the genders, and not using women as an object of piece of meat. They also boycotted that the Miss America Pageant did not support black Miss Americas. They stressed how racist the pageant was and how unfair and "ludicrous" the judges were. Let us also add that the judge panel was ALL MEN.
After the Freedom Trash Can, women had a "Cattle Auction". This is where 150 women paraded around with signs, and stressed that as cattle are worth more off of pure looks, the same principle did not apply to women. By not reaching society's standards, many, if not every woman and girl felt inferior to the fake, praised Miss America. It seemed as if unreachable beauty echoed in the minds of young and old women everywhere. Though this such beauty is nearly impossible to achieve without exuberant amounts of money, those women who spent the money and the time to look seemingly perfect were and still are praised for being the very image of society