Prove to me that women stood around burning their bras back in the late 60's/early 70's

[devilgrrl]

Post a picture, a story, something proving that this actually took place. Because right now, I think it's a pile of crap and shame on Thom Hartmann for repeating the myth.

Thanks in advance.

[William769]

1. ...

:shrug:

[NashVegas]

2. From Snopes

http://www.snopes.com/history/american/burnbra.htm

But in that year's September issue of Ms., contributing editor Lindsy Van Gelder confessed that she herself, as a young reporter for the New York Post, had given the false tale its start. Sent to do a humor piece on the demonstration, she attempted to turn her assignment into a vehicle for showcasing the validity of the movement by linking it to the Vietnam War protests which, unlike the women's liberation protests, were at least being taken seriously by the press. She made reference to (hypothetical) bra-burning as a way of piggybacking the zap actions at the Miss America Pageant onto the established credibility of the draft resistance movement by implying by suggestion that if young American men were burning their draft cards in protest over being oppressed, then young American women were burning their bras in protest of the same evil, (albeit in their case perpetrated by a different oppressor).

[quispquake]

Wow...

I always thought that had happened, but doing a google search showed that bra burning was so much bull shit...

[wakeme2008]

3. Well as I remember,,,, a lot of girls in the 60-70s did not have bras to

start with.

Looking for the Dirty Old Man icon... :)

[LiberalEsto]

4. There were a handful of women

Correction: who tossed a bra and other trash into a bin

Incorrect "burned their bras"

at some demonstration in Atlantic City, NJ in 1968 to the best of my recollection.

I think the media deliberately blew up the incident for years in order to discredit all feminist activists. But I honestly can't recall any demonstration where this was done.

[NashVegas]

7. Nope. Didn't Happen

Follow the link in my post above.

[LiberalEsto]

8. I stand corrected

"In the late 1960s, radical feminists began using rhetoric and protest tactics as a way of indelibly imprinting their message on the public. They staged dramatic and at times deliberately provocative demonstrations (which they called "zap actions") to focus attention on women's need for liberation. The first and most famous of these stagings occurred at the 1968 Miss America beauty pageant when a small group of women picketed the pageant with signs proclaiming, "Let's Judge Ourselves as People.'' They crowned a live sheep, and dumped girdles, cosmetics, high-heeled shoes, and bras into a "freedom trash can" while the cameras clicked. There was no fire, let alone busty feminists stripping off bras in public to toss them onto bonfires, but the image of brassieres going into a trash can was captured in a memorable photo. A flippant print reference to bra-burning then melded itself into memories of this photo to create the false memory now so vivid in recall.

According to Susan Brownmiller, author of American Feminine, the famous 1968 demonstration in Atlantic City did not involve bra burning."



http://www.snopes.com/history/american/burnbra.htm

I was 16 at the time so I got my facts mixed up

[mnhtnbb]

16. The protesters at the Miss America pageant wanted to burn

the contents of the trash can filled with beauty items (including bras), but were prevented from doing so because they didn't have a permit.


http://www.jofreeman.com/photos/MissAm1969.html

Flag-burnings, however, did happen during the Vietnam era.

[LiberalEsto]

32. Flag burnings happen today too.

Paid Russian protestors who laid siege to the Estonian embassy in Moscow two weeks ago ripped down and burned the Estonian flag. And the U.S. flag gets burned at various anti-U.S. demonstrations around the world.

[rockymountaindem]

85. I read about that

Not the best move on Russia's part, IMHO. I hope that situation is calming down now that we're moving away from May 9th.

[seabeyond]

41. i was in calif and saw no bra burning. but then braless was fine too

time and place. lots of tube tops, tanks, and swimsuits

on edit: didnt mean to reply to you. thought i was replying to op

[Bluestar]

5. You're kidding, right?

I mean, how old are you, 17? I don't have newsfiles, but I lived through it. It happened all the time. Your predecessors actually fought for equal treatment and are responsible for many privileges that women enjoy today.

Here's one example, although a small one: When I went to work in my first office job in 1970 women had a strict dress code--no pants or slacks. The bra-burners helped turn the tide on this archaic practice and a few months after I started working there, we were allowed to wear pants.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

9. Great example of human psychology in work.

When shown a photograph of people at Disneyland posing with Daffy Duck, many survey subjects say that they too had their picture taken with Daffy Duck at Disneyland, even though the photograph is a fake and Daffy Duck is not a Disney character.

[Bluestar]

20. There's no need to flame

Obviously, I had not heard that this was an urban myth. It was reported widely in the media, as the "bra burning myth" articles point out. So, I believed what I read. Is this a crime?

Why is this is so important? Does it make the women's movement somehow a joke or something? I really don't understand the original post's intent.

[skipos]

27. You are right, there is no need to flame.

And this is such a great way to start an intelligent discussion...

"You're kidding, right? I mean, how old are you, 17?"

:eyes:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

28. It's not a flame.

Just an illustration of how people can "remember" things that didn't happen.

[eleny]

11. I stopped wearing one when I was in college - latter half of the 60s

But I guess that wouldn't be considered authentic enough.
:rofl:

[DURHAM D]

42. Me too - only it was the first half of the 60s for me.

When I went to a new OB/GYN in the late 80s she was very shocked to find out I had not worn a bra in decades. She actually admonished me and said it could not be healthy. I asked her for research and details and how it could have a bad effect on my health as she was suggesting. She mumbled and stumbled around and finally said she would have to get back to me on that.

On my next visit I asked her what she had found out (she was not about to bring it up) and she quietly said that she could not find anything that suggested it was unhealthy.

I also got into a disagreement with her about HRT. She got angry with me when I would not take same in the mid 90s. I told her that generations of women in my family had gone without and lived long healthy lives and I didn't see the need. She argued for their benefits and I asked her for the trials and research. She could not produce anything but said that I was being foolish because the medical profession would not be prescribing it to all women if it had not been thoroughly tested. And, we all know how that later turned out.

The most disappointing thing to me was her lack of ability to think independently in her male dominated profession (she is a Harvard grad)and all I could think to myself is "And this is what we worked so hard for in the movement - to get women into professional grad schools?"

[eleny]

69. Relating t her HRT reasoning...

Back when you and I were kids, docs used to get advertising for prescribing valium to women. Here's one that's priceless. A little hard to read but loaded with the propaganda geared toward prescribing it to women with low self esteem.

Not that they would prescribe it without it being "thoroughly tested". Aaaagh!

[Sapere aude]

88. I think you get the same effect with a couple of belts of Jim Beam.

[DURHAM D]

106. Wow - how ridiculous.

And then they did the same thing again in the 90s with Prozac. Every mother with teenagers who complained about being tired was offered the new Valium.

My sister went to her bridge club one night and found out that of the 12 women in the room she was the only one not on Prozac.

[SarahB]

105. I wonder what she thought a few years ago

when all the studies on HRT causing heart disease in women to get WORSE as opposed to the polar opposite they told everyone for years!

[DURHAM D]

107. I wondered also but I had quit going to her.

She was the youngest member of the ole boy medical guard. What a waste of an academic opportunity. Sometimes women make the worst OB/GYNs.

A friend of mine died of cancer at the age of 31. Her female doctor kept telling her that the positive pap smears were not a big deal and not to worry about it. By time she got a second opinion it was to late.

[aquart]

15. Funny. I helped break the dress code at QC and kept my bra.

It did NOT "happen all the time." The way to break a dress code is to en masse show up in pants. Poof. They either send us all home or drop the nonsense. At Queens College, they dropped the nonsense.

Bra-burning didn't have anything to do with it. What we were wearing on top wasn't the issue. The issue was fairness. Why could my boyfriend walk into the cafeteria in jeans after hours on crew assignment and I couldn't? He had to bring me food. I wasn't expected to wear a skirt to hang lights, but I was expected to change in order to eat and he wasn't.

If enough people want something to happen, it happens. One way or the other.

[Bluestar]

21. Well, good for you

That might happen in an academic setting, but it would not have happened in a business setting at the time without public opinion beginning to shift. My point was that the women's movement did have an effect on the way women were treated.

[HockeyMom]

53. Fortune 500 Cosmetics Corporation

I worked for one on Park Avenue, Manhattan, in 1968. I was a secretary but occasionally filled in for the corporate receptionist who was a former Ford model and always dressed to the Nines (60's style). You could walk around the offices any time and see high fashion models, agency execs, etc., dressed in the "hot" threads of the times.

We were not only allowed to wear what was in fashion at the time, but were encouraged to do so for the company's image. I wore not just mini skirts, but hot pants, mid riff shirts, jeans with lace and appliques, etc, and yes, I went bra less, mostly for comfort and also for the type of tops I was wearing. Actually, given the fact that I was 20 years old, 5'1", and about 98 lbs. then, I probably looked more than a 12 year old BOY. To put it bluntly, I hardly even NEEDED a bra.

It took a few more years, but I do remember other women from other companies in the area did start to relax their dress codes too.

No, I cannot say I ever saw any bra burning where I worked. Cannot burn something you don't even own.:evilgrin:

[devilgrrl]

22. You are wrong and your screed unnecessary - you owe me a apology!

BTW, how old are you?

[Bluestar]

31. I believe I already admitted that I was wrong in an earlier post

I do apologize if I offended you. I am 57 and remember what it was like for women in 1970. I felt your post was minimizing the women's movement.

[devilgrrl]

36. I think that myth minimizes the women's movement in that...

the right uses it to illustrate that "feminists" have a distaste for being FEMININE. Do you see what I'm saying?

BTW, I'm 43.

[blondeatlast]

43. Exactly! I'm 47 and can vividly recall the stereotypical depiction

of feminists in editorial cartoons and popular media--always large women, often wearing mannish clothing. Or, worse yet, the "pretty" feminist in fiction on TV and the movies--dedicated to the cause until she "discovered" how fun it could be to be pretty and glamorous at which point she abandons the cause.

I've been an ass kincking feminist in heels and Agent Provocateur and L'Oreal my whole life--I'm sure as hell not gonna stop now.

[Bluestar]

80. Hmmm--never thought about it that way

The right (or wrong) can certainly twist ANYTHING that occurs to their own purposes. Even though I don't believe in evil, they always challenge my thinking.

[kestrel91316]

90. Never happened. You've sadly been brainwashed. If a lie gets told

often enough, it becomes the truth.

[Atman]

91. Me too. I saw it happen in Boston.

It happened, as did draft card burning.

Kids today! Pffft.

.

[Honeycombe8]

96. As I recall (yes...I can "recall" it)....it did happen...

I recall seeing at least one instance on TV or in an article. It may have been a "sit-in" type staged protest to make a point.

Protests by young people, sit-ins and such, were all the rage.

Burning bras was not a widespread practice, as I recall. It was...for those who don't know...somewhat of a METAPHORICAL burning of the bra. Women started going braless in that time frame.

I'll try to find a photo. I have seen one before. But it wasn't really a huge, unusual event, and there wasn't 24/7 news at the time, so there may not have been videos or pics taken of all the occurrences. There are only a few pics of the Kent State shootings, even. A women's rights "sit-in" would not have been considered a really big deal worthy of national news coverage.

[Marie26]

103. But where' s the proof

that there actually were "bra-burners"?

[BlooInBloo]

6. It's known to be a mere myth.

[whistle]

10. All I can say is that I was in college that that time (early to mid 60's)

....and I read editorials about these demonstrations on campus in the University student papers, and also on national network TV news. However, I never actually saw any female or group of feminists removing and burning their bras in public. If such an event happened today, they would most likely be arrested for violation of clean air and pollution laws.

[Frosty1]

12. I was there

and a devout feminist (still am). It never happened. It was talked about as a media bit. However A bra burning did take place recently. Yep! I decided they were just too uncomfortable. I burnt them! Hell in the sixties I didn't even need one.:headbang:

[Critters2]

17. I don't wear one. Don't own one.

I tried to wear one a couple of weeks ago. Lasted one day. I didn't burn it, but I did throw it away. Won't make that mistake again.

Instead, I wear these...

http://www.organicclothes.com/prods.asp?productID=52

[Archae]

13. The reason bra-burning never caught on...

Lack of support.





:D

[whistle]

18. Good one!

:rofl: Back then I recall a dorm roommate who had some undershorts that needed burning, but I'm not sure what cause that could have promoted

[blondeatlast]

34. ...

:thumbsup::rofl:

[Archae]

37. The whole bra-burning thing...

Was a big flop. :rofl:

How about that, keeping abreast of this, I make a total boob of myself! :D

[blondeatlast]

49. Don't go burning your boobies before they hatch!

[Bucky]

99. Right. At first you think it's gonna be totally hot. But soon enough there's a little nip in the air

And then what's the point?

:hide:

[Captain Hilts]

14. When they weren't spitting on returning soldiers....nt

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

19. Heh

Or eating "California Cheeseburgers."

[Captain Hilts]

33. I don't know that one. Please to explain...nt

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

39. It's a Simpsons joke.

It's a parody of that old Dragnet episode where Joe Friday busts some hippies smoking marijuana and finds a dead baby. Chief Wiggum is putting on an anti-drug sketch at the school to show the dangers of marijuana. One of the sketches shows two stoned hippies eating a "california cheeseburger" which is a newborn baby between two hamburger buns.

[Captain Hilts]

44. Oh how I love that show...nt

[daa]

23. In 1970 I went

to Atlantic City to the Miss America contest. Across the boardwalk we young women standing around a 55-gallon drum with a fire in it and they were burning their bras in it.

[HeeBGBz]

24. Didn't have one to burn

Just let 'em swing wild and free.

[Sequoia]

30. I had peanut shells with a rubber band.

[Bucky]

25. Here's a woman burning her bra... and not being very smart about it either

Yee-aowtch, sister!!

You're supposed to take it off first!

See, like this lady did!

[uppityperson]

65. Nice picture, where is it from? Website, etc? Thanks.

non-bra wearing mom of a firedancer child.

[Sequoia]

26. Are you pulling our legs here? I was a kid and saw it on the news.

[libnnc]

47. You saw women throwing bras in garbage cans.

There is footage of that.

Bras were never burned. Draft cards were burned. Not bras.

[Greyhound]

52. Exactly, thanks.

Ask any criminal lawyer, prosecutor or defense, and they will tell you how horribly unreliable "eyewitness accounts" are. People's minds fill in what they don't see and file it as a memory.

Filmmakers also use this all the time.

[Sequoia]

67. Were you there? No you weren't. Don't tell me what I didn't see.

Geez, you must be a lawyer or something.

[libnnc]

70. No, actually I'm a graduate student who has spent

lots of time researching this topic.

At the Atlantic City Miss America Pageant Protest bras were never burned. That is a fact.

Please read what historians have written about this.

http://www.h-net.msu.edu/~women/threads/disc-braburn.html

The photos that were taken at this event show women throwing bras into big garbage cans. They did not burn them at this first protest. The media spun it to make it sound like women were burning their bras and the myth took off from there.

[Sequoia]

72. Okay, I'm not talking about that incident. Just a local one.

One was on a stick and lit on fire and then thrown in one of those barrels. It was the only one, none of the other women did it, just clapped and cheered. Those women were already braless.

[libnnc]

75. This is interesting...hang with me...this incident you're

talking about was AFTER 1968?

[Sequoia]

82. Of course. After the pagent too.

At a nearby university. We only had a few local channels. It was from a station in Asheville NC, either 13 or CBS or ABC. Didn't get NBC.

For crying out loud, don't waste your time on this subject. I'm so sick of the damn 1960s anymore.

[libnnc]

84. I was born and raised west of Asheville in Haywood County

I'm 36 years old. I am quite familiar with WLOS (13), WSPA(7), WBTV(3), WFBC(4) (now WYFF) and back then, WCYB(5)(Bristol/Kingsport/Johnson City TV).

History is my profession. The sixties and their subsequent interpretation(s)/misinterpretations are very important to understand.

In order to fully examine and understand the rise of the moral majority and conservatism that dominated the '80s, it is useful to look at the phony stereotypes they pounced on...one of them being "militant bra burning dykey lesbo commie feminists"

[Sequoia]

94. What a small world!

[blondeatlast]

95. I well remember the popular depiction of feminism in the entertainment industry.

The attractive but "woefully misguided" young feminist was a popular sitcom cliche at the time. I was a pre-teen with a feisty, before her time, Jackie O type mom.

In this cliche, she was all gung-ho for feminism (I remember Room 222, The Partridge Family, and the Brady Bunch all doing similar episodes, possibly written by the same team of presunably male writers) until it spoiled her chances for going to the prom or being asked out, etc. then she was back to her perky wonderfulness again, as if it was impossible to be both. Even when her point was made, the male characters were patronizing and so "cutely" amused by the goings-on. :puke:

I even distinctly remember a TV movie about a young woman who entered a beauty pageant "undercover" to subvert it, but of course, when crowned, she was overwhelmed and just couldn't bring herself to carry out the subversion. The same tired story was repeated a few years later about a Playboy bunny type outfit; the reporter ended up just loving it and couldn't bring herself to write the critical story.

That whole cliche just cranked me. I'm an ass-kickin' girly-girl and I resent the implication that women are so simple that we can't be ANYTHING we want to be.

[Clark2008]

101. Howdy, former neighbor!

I'm 37 years old and live in Knoxville, TN.

Move back! We need to shift the South blue again! :hi:

[devilgrrl]

74. I heard that Elton John had semen pumped from his stomach and Alice Cooper shit on stage...

that must have been true too! :sarcasm:

[sallyseven]

29. I don't have a picture

but rest assured they did. Atlantic City during pageant week for Miss America.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

35. lol! I never burned my bras. I just stopped wearing them. :) eom

[Elidor]

38. Great, now I've got the theme song from Maud in my head

Horrid earworm, because it doesn't go away easily.

[blondeatlast]

40. I'll echo the responses debunking this. I was a news junkie even as a kid,

a very early feminist, and I never saw it and have seen the myth disproven dozens of times as already seen in this thread.

[libnnc]

45. I cannot prove it.

Because it never happened. Thanks for this thread. :thumbsup:

[Blue_In_AK]

46. I never burned one...

I just stopped wearing them for a time, and only in certain settings.

[sinkingfeeling]

48. Don't know of any pictures or actual burnings, but there sure were a lot of us that

stopped wearing them. I was a 34C and didn't wear a bra except to work from 1970 until about 1977.

[ItNerd4life]

50. My mom burned my dad's bra.

Slaps self for saying this, but I just couldn't resist. :)

[babydollhead]

54. my dad had a bra. 44dd

he likes to dress as a woman for halloween. He died in 1989, and the bra remainss in his his memory box, with his toupee and his mucklucks

[gatorboy]

64. Then I believe, that would be considered a "bro".

[Cleita]

51. I believe it was a metaphor.

I never saw an actual bra being burned, but women (those young enough to still have perky boobs) across the country stopped wearing bras and other restrictive foundation garments like girdles to punctuate their commitment to women's rights.

[bdamomma]

55. it wasn't a myth and women did do it.

[libnnc]

57. At the Atlantic City Miss America protest?

No. Those women put their bras in garbage cans.

Where did women en mass burn bras?

Edit to add this link to a Women's History query and response page on this topic

Asked if the Atlantic City government had objected to the protest, Robin Morgan told a reporter the mayor had been worried about fire safety, but "We told him we wouldn't do anything dangerous--just a symbolic bra-burning." This article made clear that no fires were set, but by Sept. 28th the _Times_ refers to "bra-burnings" as if they happened.

http://www.h-net.msu.edu/~women/threads/disc-braburn.html

[laylah]

56. I didn't wear one for years!

That is until I found myself entertaining myself with my own personal hackie sacks and became afraid I would trip myself. A woman of my age (56 on July 1) must worry about broken bones and all that thar stuff, ya know :rofl:

[Joe Fields]

58. I never saw women burning their bras, but most of the young women

that I saw during those times of the late sixties and up to the mid seventies just went bra-less. They felt more freedom in going without a bra, both comfort-wise and also as a way to express sexual freedom.

[in_cog_ni_to]

59. I saw it happen myself. IT HAPPENED ALL THE TIME.

To this day I HATE wearing a bra.:) Talk about freeing! Those were the days! Bras WERE burned.

[libnnc]

62. Where did you see a group of women burn their bras?

[in_cog_ni_to]

71. On TV, in the tiny little town I grew up in there were bra burning parties too. MANY women 'of the

day' never wore a bra. I never did and still only wear one when I MUST. If I'm going out to a restaurant, to my son's school, shopping...I'll begrudgingly force myself to wear one, but at home...NEVER. Why? You REALLY think it's a myth? It's NOT.:7:hippie:

[libnnc]

73. The way the original protest...

(the Miss America protest of '68) has been portrayed, it has been used to bash the Women's movement. The "militant bra burner" meme has framed the perception of the feminist movement.

Those of us who study and teach Women's History are trying to set the official record straight. What happened AFTER the Miss America protest, (after the meme of "bra burning" took off) is a different matter.

[in_cog_ni_to]

92. WHO GIVES A SHIT what the fucking RW wants to call it? OF COURSE they didn't support the movement!

They were prudes then and they're PRUDES now! Who give a damn what they want to call it? Why does it matter? Women fought for equal rights and equal pay and I think we did a damn good job doing it! BRA or NO BRA! Who gives a damn what those people say? I DON'T!

LOOK AT WOMEN NOW! Nancy Pelosi is THE FREAKIN' SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE!!! Hillary Clinton is running for President and could very well be elected! NOTHING the Liberal, Hippie, bra-burning, free love, pot smokin' crowd did would be alright with ANY RWer now or then....so, WHY DO YOU CARE WTF THEY THINK? They also think women shouldn't have a choice on whether or not to have an abortion. Does that make them RIGHT? NO. Their opinions mean NOTHING! They just hate the fact that women have come as far as they have and are having a very difficult time dealing with it. Do I care? NO...I do not.

[libnnc]

93. I'm just trying to give you a perspective

from someone in academia who is training to be in the business of teaching history.

We're still affected by how conservatives and dipshits in the MSM painted (and still paint) the modern Women's Movement.

No need to be so angry with me. I'm an historian. That's my gig. Sorry to anger you.

[Nikki Stone1]

60. Bra burning was a myth. See Susan Bordo

Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture, and the Body, (The preface)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0520240545/002-2611483-0532053

[dogday]

61. From time to time you would see photos and TV

of women throwing their bras into a bon-fire... It seemed like it was a phase, like most things in this country, it wore out...

[Honeycombe8]

97. Yes, this is what I remember. A bon-fire type thing.

It was for a particular staged "sit-in" event, or something like that. It wasn't something that ordinary women did in their daily lives. But it was METAPHORICAL bra burning in the sense that many women stopped wearing bras.

[mainer]

63. How do you ladies get away without wearing one?

I mean, I'm not big or anything and don't need one, so I go without one whenever I can. But showing one's nipples through a blouse is a no-no in the business world and in staid New England.

[Gormy Cuss]

76. Loose clothing and layers.

At least that's how my friends did it. I had a friend who wore camisoles under blouses, nothing otherwise.

What I find amusing is that starting in the late 1970s many bra manufacturers had "natural look" bras and seeing the outline of nipples on blouses and shirts became more acceptable. It's still not acceptable to see the whole nipple in living color, but the little points properly covered with opaque material are okay.

[hootinholler]

77. Maybe, but it's oh so hot.

I guess that's why it's a no no. The men can't focus, I know I can't when I notice someone's headlights are on.

:evilgrin:

-Hoot

[LSK]

66. is this satire????

:wtf:

[devilgrrl]

68. Uh, no, this isn't satire....

especially when Thom Hartmann repeated the meme on his show today. It's a tired myth cooked up by the right - not satire.

[Marie26]

104. Thanks for this thread

It's amazing how many people know this myth is true, without knowing how they know it. How does that happen? Do you think it was created & manipulated by the right-wing, or do you think people created & spread the myth themselves?

[Bluebear]

78. "Bra burning feminists: NOT"

Interesting . . .


====

http://womenshistory.about.com/od/mythsofwomenshistory/a/bra_burning.htm

I found a new book recently on women's history -- in general, a good overview, designed for high school or college introductory courses, judging from the level of writing.

But there it was, in a chapter on the 60s feminist movement: a reference to feminist bra-burning. I wanted to scream!

As far as any serious scholar has been able to determine, NO EARLY FEMINIST DEMONSTRATION BURNED BRAS!

The best guess is that images of draft card burning and images of women tossing bras into trash cans merged in many minds, and thus was created a vivid memory that just wasn't so.

Media commentators, the same ones who renamed the women's liberation movement with the condescending term "Women's Lib," took up the term and promoted it. Perhaps there were some bra-burnings in imitation of the supposed leading-edge demonstrations that didn't really happen, though so far there's been no documentation of those, either.

The infamous demonstration that gave birth to this rumor was the 1968 protest of the Miss America contest. Bras, girdles, nylons and other articles of constricting clothing were tossed in a trash can.

One report has the New York Times quoting Robin Morgan saying that bras would be burned; I have been unable to find such an article (and would love a verifiable copy, if one exists).

The symbolic act of tossing those clothes into the trash can was meant as a serious critique of the modern beauty culture, of valuing women for their looks instead of their whole self. (Older feminists may remember that romantic line savvy men began to use, "I love you for your mind?") "Going braless" felt like a revolutionary act - being comfortable above meeting social expectations.

I admit: I was one of those women. I remember at about that time, my mother told me the story of when she and her sister thought they were so modern and radical because they adopted the practice of wearing brassieres! They were rebelling against the practice of their mother's generation, which still wore camisoles and other less "modern" contrivances. In fact, my mother told me, she and her sister had bought a brassiere for their mother, who tried it on once, and, put off by the elastic band's pressure, swore she'd never wear one of those torture instruments. And she never did again!

Of course, with the 1970s came a new feminist critique of bralessness and the sexual revolution in which many feminists participated: somehow, in many circles, being sexually free meant primarily being more sexually available to men, and still doing all the laundry, cooking and house-cleaning. Going braless was as sexually titillating to men as wearing those awful brassieres of the 1950s and 1960s that looked like pointed cones.

Plus, bralessness was so easily trivialized. One Illinois legislator was quoted in the 1970s, responding to an Equal Rights Amendment lobbyist, calling feminists "braless, brainless broads."

Bralessness was out; working for the ERA was in.

But the myth of the burning bra continued, and speculating on why that legend is perpetuated is another matter for women's history.

If you've got evidence to the contrary - historians would love to hear about it, particularly if it's from before the phrase made history in the media.

[HardRocker05]

79. so what if they did? nt

[NotGivingUp]

81. No, shame on you! Some of us think getting rid of bras IS liberating. nt

[libnnc]

86. *sigh* That's not what the OP was inferring

Please read some of the responses in this thread before jumping to that conclusion.

[truebrit71]

83. I never understood the whole 'bra-burning' thing? But then I am a fan of

...thin tee-shirts and fully cranked up air-conditioning... :evilgrin:

[cui bono]

87. You know girls...

it's great to live in a democracy today, where freedom is
everywhere. But girls, we often take this freedom for granted: freedom of
speech, freedom of thought, and freedom of action. But you know gals, just
because a bunch of men signed that Declaration Of Independence in 1776,
doesn't mean that freedom was for men alone. Oh no, you take Tom Jefferson,
Ben Franklin, John Hancock - he's a helluva guy for you right there! All
these men had wives. They probably had a few broads on the side too. These
women wanted freedom just as much as their men did. But gals, I wonder, do
we? I think it's time that we women thought about it a bit. Hell, I think
it's time we did something about it. So come on, fellow females of the 20th
century! Be glad that you're an American! Proclaim your freedom! Stand at
attention! Pledge Allegiance! And...

Bounce your boobies, get into the swing.
Bounce your boobies, the swing is everything.
Makes no difference if they're big or small,
As long as you - ooh! - give 'em your all.

Bounce your boobies.
Come on, honey, bounce 'em up and down.
Bounce your boobies.
Come on, bounce your boobies, honey. Come on.

Loosen the bra that binds you!
Take it off if you feel like it!
Come on, bounce your boobies.
Here we go. Doesn't that feel good?
Bounce your boobies.

You know girls, men aren't the only people in the world today that have
something to give, but it sure looks like it sometimes. Just look around
you - men stick out all over the place. Big fat cigars. Big fat stomachs.
And just where they should stick out - phhbtt! - where is it?!

Yes, girls, we know what we've got, and we know what they're worth. So come
on, gals, let's get into the swing of things. Give your boobies some
freedom! All together now!

Bounce your boobies, let 'em rock 'n' roll.
Nudge your knockers, keep 'em hot and so.
Just admit it, gals, it sure feels great
To feel them swingin', ooh, titilate!

Bounce your boobies.
Come on, bounce 'em up and down, honey.
Bounce your boobies.
There, look at that gal, she's goin' at it.
Bounce your boobies.
Oh, doesn't that feel good?
Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce,
Bounce your boobies now!

Bounce your boobies everybody!



"Bounce Your Boobies" - Rusty Warren

available on
Rusty Warren Bounces Back - Jubilee LP, 1961
Dr. Demento Presents The Greatest Novelty Records Of All Time, Vol. 3: The
1960's - Rhino LP/CS 822, 1985
and probably some other funny song compilations

[kestrel91316]

89. The bra burning is a myth. There was, IIRC, ONE feminist protest

where women symbolically threw bras in the trash. That's it.

[WI_DEM]

98. Some did, but not most women

[Left Is Write]

100. I always thought it was a metaphor.

[Marie26]

102. It's a myth

Propagated to stereotype & minimize the feminist movement.