1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,960 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio, Hey brain Stuff. 2 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:12,280 Speaker 1: Lauren Bogelbaum here mentioned women's lib and first wave feminism 3 00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:16,320 Speaker 1: during the nineteen sixties and seventies, and images of angry 4 00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:20,079 Speaker 1: women's swinging their braws overhead like lassos and then setting 5 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:24,360 Speaker 1: the offending garments on fire might come to mind. There's 6 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:28,080 Speaker 1: just one problem. Women didn't really burn their braws as 7 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:30,920 Speaker 1: part of the women's liberation movement in the nineteen seventies. 8 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:34,360 Speaker 1: Bra burning, it turns out, is another one of America's 9 00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:39,960 Speaker 1: myths become cliche. Before the nineteen sixty eight Miss America pageant, 10 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:43,320 Speaker 1: most Americans had never heard of the women's liberation movement, 11 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:47,560 Speaker 1: But on September seven of nineteen sixty eight, a protest 12 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:50,880 Speaker 1: outside the pageant at the Atlantic City Convention Center drew 13 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:54,480 Speaker 1: the nation's eye. As millions of viewers tuned in to 14 00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:58,200 Speaker 1: watch the pageant, they witnessed nearly four hundred women carrying 15 00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:01,240 Speaker 1: signs reading things like no more our beauty standards and 16 00:01:01,440 --> 00:01:04,840 Speaker 1: welcome to the cattle Auction as they decried the concept 17 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:09,319 Speaker 1: of beauty contests. At the center of the commotion was 18 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:13,200 Speaker 1: the freedom can, which was a trash receptacle into which 19 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:18,080 Speaker 1: women were throwing high heels, girdles, dish detergent curlers, issues 20 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:22,440 Speaker 1: of Playboy magazines, and yes, bras, calling them instruments of 21 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:26,840 Speaker 1: female torture. Although the protesters intended to burn the items, 22 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:30,039 Speaker 1: they were unable to obtain a fire permit, so in 23 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:34,319 Speaker 1: the end, no bras ever went up in flames. But 24 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:37,840 Speaker 1: that didn't stop the protesters from earning a nickname that 25 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:42,080 Speaker 1: would stick well into the nineteen seventies and beyond, braw burners. 26 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:45,959 Speaker 1: The term was coined by reporters covering the Women's Liberation 27 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:50,000 Speaker 1: protest who compared the Women's liberation movement to anti war 28 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:55,279 Speaker 1: protesters who burned draft cards and flags. Specifically, a story 29 00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:58,480 Speaker 1: in The New York Post referred to braw burning during 30 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:03,480 Speaker 1: the protest. The New York Post reporter in question, long, 31 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:06,880 Speaker 1: assumed to be a man bent on trivializing the protest, 32 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:09,639 Speaker 1: was later revealed to be a woman who had had 33 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:14,200 Speaker 1: the opposite intent. In the nineteen nineties, Lindsey Van Gilder 34 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:17,480 Speaker 1: admitted that she had given the bra burning term its start. 35 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:20,360 Speaker 1: She said that she was trying to bolster the movement's 36 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:24,640 Speaker 1: validity by comparing it to Vietnam War protests, and that 37 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:27,680 Speaker 1: writing about the freedom can was her way of saying 38 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:31,000 Speaker 1: that the women's liberation movement was the equivalent of men 39 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:33,880 Speaker 1: burning draft cards in protest of the draft and the 40 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:37,799 Speaker 1: Vietnam War as a whole. The nuances of the comparison 41 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:41,920 Speaker 1: were missed, however, when a headline writer used bra burning, 42 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:46,440 Speaker 1: an image that was perpetuated many times throughout the ensuing decades. 43 00:02:47,919 --> 00:02:51,400 Speaker 1: While it's possible that small protests that occurred during the 44 00:02:51,480 --> 00:02:55,680 Speaker 1: nineteen seventies may have included the occasional bra burning, it 45 00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:58,960 Speaker 1: was never an official part of the Women's liberation movement. 46 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:03,040 Speaker 1: Any incept of widespread raw burning in the nineteen seventies 47 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:11,160 Speaker 1: seems to be nothing more than a myth. Today's episode 48 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:13,880 Speaker 1: was written by Laurie L. Dove and produced by Tyler Clang. 49 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:16,240 Speaker 1: For more on this and lots of other topics, visit 50 00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:19,040 Speaker 1: how Stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff is production of 51 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:21,600 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. Four more podcasts in my heart Radio 52 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:24,519 Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 53 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:26,000 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.