I had the privilege, along with my fellow Rebel journalists Manon Cusco and Sariah Lake, to attend Resisting Boundaries, Rise and Resist: Fighting for Women’s Rights in the 1960s and 1970s by History postgraduate student Jeannette Hartley a week ago (at time of writing), and while I was there I saw something that really peaked my interest.

In Feminist history there are many achievements that can be used as a key point in the history of the fight for women’s rights. These can be specific to a county, such as when that country legalized female voting rights, or it can be international such as the first woman in space. However, achievements alone do not win fights against misogyny.

Instead, there was always one event that I felt showed the decisive spirit needed to fight against not only governmental institutions but cultural institutions. Above any achievement, I felt what happened at Miss World 1970 showed everyone just how powerful disruption could be.

On the surface mentioning a competition quite literally valuing women exclusively based on their perceived conventional attractiveness in the same sentence as great achievements of feminism seems exactly like what a dumb chauvinistic man would write, and that is true, but Miss World 1970 itself isn’t what I’m talking about, I’m talking about what the attendees did.

The people I’m talking about are a group of activists known as the Women’s Liberation Movement1, a group that had its first meeting on this very campus, at Essex’s Revolutionary Festival (Bring that back!) in 1969 where they began to plan new feminist actions around the country, and it wouldn’t be long before they decided to attack the ultimate objectification of women, the Miss World beauty pageant earlier in 19702.

Fueled by their disgust with how women were being treated on stage and by a strong belief in change3, the group headed to the Royal Albert Hall and with flour bombs hidden in their handbags, initially planning to cake the stage in flour when all the contestants were on it.

However, Bob Hope, the host of the evening made several derogatory comments to the contestants, including calling the event a “cattle market”4. The signal for them to start their action was a football rattle, and when it cried out and shocked the packed auditorium, the flour was showring the stage.5

The chaos was exhilarating, as the action was broadcasted to 100 million people worldwide6, and the women were quickly arrested.

Miss World 1970 itself was a monumental event as it was the first time a black woman was crowned as Miss World, something that wasn’t anticipated by the organisers of the action and something that would cast a shadow over their protest, as it felt like they were attempting to stop the celebration of a person of colour winning the biggest beauty pageant in the world and permanently changing how beauty standards were perceived in popular culture.7

It was incredibly interesting to see how this event has influenced our world. It started calls for a more intersectional approach to feminism, which was a criticism of feminist movements in Europe since the suffragettes, ending the focus on affluent white women’s rights and expanding the call for women’s rights.

It was also interesting to see how powerful disruption can be, as Miss World 1970 is the framework for which modern disruptive movements like the Palestinian Student Movement have been modelled on.

All of these things make Miss World 1970 unforgettable. But there’s one thing that particularly stands out to me. Even though Essex had a tiny role in the grand scheme of the event planning, with it only serving as the place for their initial meeting, it still provided a space for people who wanted to make change to discuss their ideas openly and among other people who were making their way into history.

It would be nice to see another Revolutionary Festival on campus, seeing people who are willing to take action for change and uplifting the oppressed. We should all be inspired by the actions of the women in that hall, their bravery made sure that women’s rights are still something people will take action for.

The exhibition is still on until the 1st of February, although it may be past that when this article is published. If you’re on the first floor of the library, check it out.

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1 https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/women/miss-world-protest-1970-womens-liberation-feminists-b1759081.html

2 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/26/i-heard-the-signal-and-threw-my-flour-bombs-why-the-1970-miss-world-protest-is-still-making-waves

3 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/26/i-heard-the-signal-and-threw-my-flour-bombs-why-the-1970-miss-world-protest-is-still-making-waves

4 https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/women/miss-world-protest-1970-womens-liberation-feminists-b1759081.html

5 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/26/i-heard-the-signal-and-threw-my-flour-bombs-why-the-1970-miss-world-protest-is-still-making-waves

6 https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/women/miss-world-protest-1970-womens-liberation-feminists-b1759081.html

7 https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/may/16/jennifer-hosten-first-black-miss-world-grenada