"We weren't opposed to the contestants; we were opposed to the pageants that pitted women against each other in beauty contests."
~ Carol Hanisch
The Miss America Beauty Pageant, around since 1921, had a history of objectifying women. As seen on television and in newspapers on September 7, 1968, feminists from across the country gathered at the Atlantic City Boardwalk to protest the Miss America Pageant. The protesters were against the beauty standards within the pageant, it endorsed capitalism, supported the Vietnam War, and discriminated on the basis of race. The feminists had many critiques of the contest. The pageant exploited the contestants as it represented unrealistic beauty standards, and utilized their bodies to market the hosting city. In response to the protest, thousands of women joined forces with the Women’s Liberation Movement. The protest of 1968 altered history; it became a catalyst to the Women’s Liberation Movement. The protest brought the pageant’s issue into the public consciousness and opened a door for change in how the world perceived women.
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