Ford divorcedin 1987 at age 37, and she and her husband agreed to each take one of their two credit cards. } A prominent black feminist activist and lawyer, Florynce Kennedy, who went by Flo, chained herself to a puppet of Miss America to highlight the ways women were enslaved by beauty standards. Robin Morgan, also a protest organizer, later quoted Kennedy as comparing that summers violent protests at the Democratic National Convention to throwing a brick through a window. The 26-year-old journalist came up with it in August 1968after ameeting where the groupdiscussed a short film, "Schmeerguntz," about how beauty standards oppressed women. Ford's mouth dropped open in surprise. true : false; The Miss Americas of 1955 and 1957, Lee Meriwether and Marian McKnight, both dated Joe DiMaggio, and everyone denied everything. As usual, it was hot and miserable all the time. } Bev Grant/Getty Images Ford took home the crown wearing a long white dress with gold detailing on the straps. var src = args[1]; url.href = originUrl; 1968 was a year of upheaval and protest in the United States. White women are still upheld as an ideal of beauty. Ford had been coaxed into the Miss Boone County Fair pageant by the manager of the SuperValu store, the father of one of her friends. Parks sang "There She Is" as Ford walked the long runway, photographers three deep on either side. Miss America USO Show Troupe, if (args.length > 3) { In November 1968, Carol Hanisch wrote that one of the biggest mistakes of the whole pageant was our anti-womanismMiss America and all beautiful women came off as our enemy instead of our sisters who suffer with us.. if (iframe.clientHeight > window.innerHeight) { African Americans and civil rights activists gather to crown the first Miss Black America. break; Vietnam War-Stories.com: Dak To, Miss America 1969! USO, by Jay Louisiana Susanne Gail Saunders Ten points of protest" was included in the 1970 anthology Sisterhood is Powerful, edited by Robin Morgan. Alaska Jane Allison Haycraft iframeParams = iframeParams.concat(window.location.href.substr(window.location.href.indexOf("?")