Jo Robinson was one of the women who famously protested Miss World 1970, an event celebrated in a new film and book
Fifty years ago last month, an action that caught global attention and launched the Women’s Liberation Movement took place at the 1970 Miss World Beauty Contest, held at the Royal Albert Hall.
Carole Vincent and myself, both Waltham Forest residents, were there in the action that ground the contest to a halt on millions of TV screens. It became an iconic moment of resistance in women’s history, as patriarchal comedian Bob Hope was driven from the stage in a cloud of flour.
Women from all over the country smuggled themselves into the Royal Albert Hall to bring to a halt what they considered to be a showcase of sexism that objectified women. Carole, who was 16 years old at the time, was probably the youngest woman there. She had gone with an older group of peace activists and now reflects on the great success of getting their cause and voices heard, spurring her into life-long activism.
I escaped a bouncer by spraying him with blue ink, but was arrested later for discharging a smoke bomb and ended up on trial, spending a night in Holloway Prison. Now a major film, Misbehaviour, has been released – telling the stories of both the protesters and the beauty contestants. We have also launched a book of the same name.
We first wrote our story in 1971. More recently, the writer and director of the film visited five of us who had re-united, and we realised how much we all wanted to tell our own stories. Sharing memories, we realised there must be many other versions of what happened that night.
We had no idea how many women had protested, because it had been organised through word of mouth, without the magic of mobile phones or social media. We put out a call to find other protesters, and found nearly 20 other women who had changed history that night and wanted to contribute their stories.
The Women’s Liberation Movement began that day, changing life for every woman in the UK – heralding the Equal Pay Act, Equal Rights Act, all the way to free childcare and winning the right to contraception – many things that had not been possible for women up to that point. Progress has since been made in many more legal areas, such as recognition of rape within marriage, and violence and abuse against women. But there is still a long way to go.
The ‘Misbehaviour’ book can be bought in bookshops and ordered online: Visit misbehavingthebook.com
No news is bad news
Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.
The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.
If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.
Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.
Monthly direct debit
Annual direct debit
£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else.
More information on supporting us monthly or annually
More Information about donations
I really appreciate the insights shared in this article, especially how it highlights the importance of challenging systems of power. On a related note, I recently had an experience with vizio customer service that I think could be worth mentioning here. As someone who’s been working towards advocating for better customer rights and services, I found Vizio’s support team to be incredibly responsive and helpful. They listened to my concerns and acted promptly to resolve the issue I had with my TV, which was a refreshing change compared to some other brands.