Archive · 11 Sep 2026
1968 Miss America Protest Challenged Beauty Politics and Feminist Stereotypes
In 1968, a group called New York Radical Women protested the Miss America contest.
They said the contest judged women mainly by their looks and bodies.
The protesters wanted to throw bras, high heels, and other items into a trash can.
They hoped to burn the items, but police would not allow a fire on the wooden boardwalk.
No bras were actually burned.
A newspaper story helped create the famous but inaccurate “bra-burning” image.
That image made some people ignore the movement’s bigger demands, such as equal pay and reproductive rights.
The protest also happened near the first Miss Black America Pageant, which challenged racism in beauty contests.
In 2018, Miss America removed its swimsuit round and emphasized scholarship, talent, and social impact.
On September 7, 1968, New York Radical Women protested the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City.
The activists planned to discard bras and other beauty-related items, but police denied permission to burn them.
Media coverage popularized the inaccurate “bra-burning” label, distracting attention from demands for equality and reproductive rights.
The protest coincided with the first Miss Black America Pageant, which challenged Miss America’s racial exclusivity.
Miss America dropped its swimsuit round in 2018, reflecting changing ideas about women’s leadership and representation.
- Who
- New York Radical Women organized the protest; Miss America contestants and organizers were its targets, while J. Morris Anderson organized the first Miss Black America Pageant.
- What
- A 1968 protest challenged women’s objectification in beauty contests and criticized racial and gender inequalities.
- When
- The protest took place on September 7, 1968; Miss America dropped its swimsuit round in 2018.
- Where
- The protest occurred outside Convention Hall in Atlantic City, near the first Miss Black America Pageant.
- Why
- Activists opposed beauty standards that reduced women to their bodies and demanded broader political and social equality.
Feminist Critique
Defenses of Choice and Pageants
Meaning of Beauty Contests
Feminist Critique
Critics argued that beauty pageants reduced women’s identities to body parts and reinforced commercial beauty standards.
Defenses of Choice and Pageants
Supporters of pageants’ evolution emphasized scholarship, talent, social impact, empowerment, and women’s ability to choose how they present themselves.
Impact of the “Bra-Burning” Label
Feminist Critique
Feminist writers and historians argue that the label distorted the protest and diverted attention from issues such as equal pay, reproductive rights, daycare, and racism.
Defenses of Choice and Pageants
The media’s focus on discarded undergarments made the protest a memorable cultural symbol, even though no bras were burned.
Feminism and Men
Feminist Critique
The movement’s stated target was an oppressive system, not men as a group, according to Marilyn Webb’s cited explanation.
Defenses of Choice and Pageants
Opponents portrayed the “bra-burning radical” as anti-male, unpatriotic, and hostile to traditional family structures.
- Protest date
- September 7, 1968
- Protest location
- Outside Convention Hall in Atlantic City
- Organizing group
- New York Radical Women
- Items targeted
- Bras, girdles, high heels, hairspray, hair curlers, and copies of Playboy
- Fire plan
- Police refused permission to burn the items because of the wooden boardwalk’s fire hazard
- Related event
- The inaugural Miss Black America Pageant was organized by J. Morris Anderson
- Miss America change
- The swimsuit round was dropped in 2018