Up in Smoke

It is a compelling (and admittedly at times, tempting) image -- burning bras in the name of stamping out the patriarchy. Especially in 1968. But it never happened. (Fire codes prevented it. They may have been angry feminists, but they did believe in safety first.) But the myth of the bra-burner lives on. In our heads. In our lingerie closets. And last month, in a newspaper story on the history of the bra, brought to you by Maidenform.

From Women in Media and News:

On Sept. 27, you received an action alert from WIMN ("Tampa Tribune Needs History Lesson") about a recent Tampa Tribune article that rehashed the old myth that feminists burned bras in the 1960s, complete with a separate timeline
-- offered by bra-maker Maidenform -- that asserted that feminists encouraged 'bra-burning rallies.'" Asking if perhaps the Tribune had burned their history books, we offered you information about the history of the "feminist bra-burners" myth and an address for letters to the Tribune editors so that you could ask for a correction. (For the original alert, see
https://lists.riseup.net/www/arc/wimn/2007-09/msg00000.html)

Today, we're pleased to report that the Tampa Tribune responded to your feedback with a follow-up piece by reporter Cloe Cabrera. Cabrera not only explained how the error made it into her original report but also interviewed feminist activists who could attest first-hand to the fact that bra-burning never happened at the event where the myth was born. Her piece, "No Bras Burned, But They Did Revolt" begins:

"It's a myth so pervasive, most of us believe it's true.

I know I did.

So when information about "feminist bra burning rallies" turned up in a timeline Maidenform provided for a Sept. 27 story on the history of the bra, I didn’t think twice about using it.

Bra-burning women's libbers have become an important part of 1960s lore. I've heard stories about them. I've read about them in books and magazines.

The problem is, things didn't go down quite the way those stories tell it.

That's not to say bra-burning never happened as a public protest anywhere during the turbulent '60s. But feminists didn't set their bras ablaze in the spectacular way that has become legend." (To read the full story, see
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/oct/09/ba-no-bras-burned-but-they-did-revo

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