The 1968 Miss America pageant protest has become an iconic symbol of second- wave feminism, but what led up to this massive dismissal of beauty standards?

Second wave feminism kicked off at the end of World War II with Simone De Beauvoir’s 1949 book “The Second Sex.”

The text focuses on the creation of the “other” or the female gender, but she goes on to comment on the use of dress as oppression.

“Since woman is an object, it is quite understandable that her intrinsic value is affected by her style of dress and adornment,” claimed De Beauvoir.

Photo of Twiggy Lawson. (Contributed/showstudio.com)

The model Twiggy redefined the ideal body and fashion of the 1960s. Her very slender, tall build enticed an entire generation to aim for as thin a figure as possible.

She and other models represented and newly sexualized young women, with the miniskirt being the fashionable piece of the time.

The push back against the growing beauty pressures culminated in the late 60s with bra and cosmetic burnings, like those seen at the Miss America protest.

Feminist Germaine Greet stated in her 1971 piece “The Female Eunuch,” “Women are so brainwashed about the physical image… They are often apologetic about their bodies, considered in relation to that plastic object of desire whose image is radiated through the media.”

Radical feminists threw out major fashion conventions in favor of makeup-free and utilitarian or natural clothing.

The 1980s saw a rise in the commodification of fashion and the working woman.

Madonna in her pink Gaultier corset is a great example of the growing sexualization of 80s clothing and advertisements.

The trends of the 60s through 80s would see a rise in the 1990s, but the onset of third wave feminism would bring about major criticism of growing body image problems.

Bodies were on display more than ever, but how they were portrayed would become the problem.

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