Miss America protest

Miss America protest

Demonstrators from the National Women's Liberation Movement picketing the 1968 Miss America Pageant
Date	September 7, 1968 (1968-09-07)
Duration	1 pm to 12 midnight
Venue	Miss America 1969
Location	Atlantic City, New Jersey Boardwalk
Also known as	No More Miss America
Cause	Women's liberation
Target	Miss America 1969
Organised by	New York Radical Women
Participants	New York Radical Women, Jeannette Rankin Brigade, National Organization for Women, American Civil Liberties Union

The Miss America protest was a demonstration held at the Miss America 1969 contest on September 7, 1968, attended by about 200 feminists and civil rights advocates. The feminist protest was organized by New York Radical Women and included putting symbolic feminine products into a "Freedom Trash Can" on the Atlantic City boardwalk, including bras, hairspray, makeup, girdles, corsets, false eyelashes, mops, and other items. The protesters also unfurled a large banner emblazoned with "Women's Liberation" inside the contest hall, drawing worldwide media attention to the Women's Liberation Movement.^[1][2]

Reporter Lindsy Van Gelder drew an analogy between the feminist protesters throwing bras in the trash cans and Vietnam War protesters who burned their draft cards. The bra-burning trope was permanently attached to the event and became a catch-phrase of the feminist era.^[3]