On September 7, 1968, a coalition of women’s liberation groups planned various demonstrations against the annual Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City. These demonstrations aimed to challenge the pageant’s objectification of women through beauty standards, its historical exclusion of women of color, and its role as a symbol of militarism and consumerism. Some direct actions discussed in the source included picket lines, guerrilla theater, and a symbolic “Freedom Trash Can” to discard items representing restrictive feminine ideals, culminating in a boycott of pageant-related products and a rally. The source also contains a ten-point protest statement, outlining the group’s grievances against the Miss America pageant and its effects.
