WEBVTT - Did Women Really Burn Their Bras During Protests?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio, Hey brain Stuff.

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Bogelbaum here mentioned women's lib and first wave feminism

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<v Speaker 1>during the nineteen sixties and seventies, and images of angry

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<v Speaker 1>women's swinging their braws overhead like lassos and then setting

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<v Speaker 1>the offending garments on fire might come to mind. There's

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<v Speaker 1>just one problem. Women didn't really burn their braws as

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<v Speaker 1>part of the women's liberation movement in the nineteen seventies.

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<v Speaker 1>Bra burning, it turns out, is another one of America's

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<v Speaker 1>myths become cliche. Before the nineteen sixty eight Miss America pageant,

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<v Speaker 1>most Americans had never heard of the women's liberation movement,

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<v Speaker 1>But on September seven of nineteen sixty eight, a protest

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<v Speaker 1>outside the pageant at the Atlantic City Convention Center drew

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<v Speaker 1>the nation's eye. As millions of viewers tuned in to

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<v Speaker 1>watch the pageant, they witnessed nearly four hundred women carrying

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<v Speaker 1>signs reading things like no more our beauty standards and

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<v Speaker 1>welcome to the cattle Auction as they decried the concept

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<v Speaker 1>of beauty contests. At the center of the commotion was

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<v Speaker 1>the freedom can, which was a trash receptacle into which

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<v Speaker 1>women were throwing high heels, girdles, dish detergent curlers, issues

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<v Speaker 1>of Playboy magazines, and yes, bras, calling them instruments of

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<v Speaker 1>female torture. Although the protesters intended to burn the items,

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<v Speaker 1>they were unable to obtain a fire permit, so in

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<v Speaker 1>the end, no bras ever went up in flames. But

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<v Speaker 1>that didn't stop the protesters from earning a nickname that

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<v Speaker 1>would stick well into the nineteen seventies and beyond, braw burners.

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<v Speaker 1>The term was coined by reporters covering the Women's Liberation

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<v Speaker 1>protest who compared the Women's liberation movement to anti war

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<v Speaker 1>protesters who burned draft cards and flags. Specifically, a story

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<v Speaker 1>in The New York Post referred to braw burning during

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<v Speaker 1>the protest. The New York Post reporter in question, long,

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<v Speaker 1>assumed to be a man bent on trivializing the protest,

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<v Speaker 1>was later revealed to be a woman who had had

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<v Speaker 1>the opposite intent. In the nineteen nineties, Lindsey Van Gilder

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<v Speaker 1>admitted that she had given the bra burning term its start.

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<v Speaker 1>She said that she was trying to bolster the movement's

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<v Speaker 1>validity by comparing it to Vietnam War protests, and that

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<v Speaker 1>writing about the freedom can was her way of saying

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<v Speaker 1>that the women's liberation movement was the equivalent of men

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<v Speaker 1>burning draft cards in protest of the draft and the

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<v Speaker 1>Vietnam War as a whole. The nuances of the comparison

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<v Speaker 1>were missed, however, when a headline writer used bra burning,

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<v Speaker 1>an image that was perpetuated many times throughout the ensuing decades.

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<v Speaker 1>While it's possible that small protests that occurred during the

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen seventies may have included the occasional bra burning, it

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<v Speaker 1>was never an official part of the Women's liberation movement.

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<v Speaker 1>Any incept of widespread raw burning in the nineteen seventies

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<v Speaker 1>seems to be nothing more than a myth. Today's episode

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<v Speaker 1>was written by Laurie L. Dove and produced by Tyler Clang.

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<v Speaker 1>For more on this and lots of other topics, visit

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