Episode 01

The 1970 Miss World Pageant was a wild ride, to say the least. It is the era of apartheid in South Africa, the Civil Rights Movement in the United States of America and the Women’s Liberation Movement in Britain. These all come crashing into each other on what was probably one of the most watched events on live television at the time, with over 22 million people in the UK and 100 million people worldwide tuning in to watch the event.

What is Miss World?

Miss World is an international beauty pageant that was created in 1951 by Eric Morley, as part of the Mecca Leisure Group in the UK, originally as a way to promote events at his ballroom and to promote the new fangled beach style craze – the bikini, as part of the Festival of Britain. In fact the very first winner of Miss World was crowned in a bikini, which ended up being condemned by the Pope! That’s right, Pope Pius XII was like, down with this sort of thing, careful now! Which resulted in some more religious countries threatening to send future contestants.

Fun Fact: Did you know the test of a “true” bikini is that it is supposed to fit through a wedding band?

Miss World is the oldest surviving major international beauty pageant and one of the most publicised beauty contests on the globe, along with its rivals Miss Earth (which advocates for environmental awareness) and Miss Universe, which started only a year after the Miss World contest and also, in addition, furthermore, was owned by Donald Trump until 2015. Ew and also ick.

Miss South Africa/Miss Africa South

There was controversy from the get-go, you see, before the contest even started there was a massive uproar because South Africa sent two contestants, one white and one black.

The thing is, organisers were effectively shamed in to sending Pearl Jansen, a woman of colour, at the last minute as some kind of response to Apartheid in South Africa. The country had already sent a white contestant, Jillian Jessup. Because what better way to distract people from your country’s official policy of racial segregation and white supremacy enforced by your government than going LOOK we sent a black woman too! Jessup was dubbed Miss South Africa and Jansen was Miss Africa South.

The Angry Brigade Bombing

In a crazy random happenstance, the 1970 Miss World Contest was targeted by a far-left British terrorist group, the Angry Brigade. These urban guerrillas saw themselves as the UK counterparts to the Italian Brigate Rosse and Germany’s Baader Meinhof groups, however unlike their contemporaries who kidnapped, murdered and bombed as they pleased, the Angry Brigade Resistance Movement killed a grand total of… zero. Granted they did slightly injure one person, one time.

Why cause death, when you can just blow sh*t up and be annoying!?

The Angry Mob, probably

This incensed far-left extremists launched a two-year long bombing campaign, focusing on a peculiar variety of targets, from the Biba store, embassies, banks, homes of Tory MPs and of course, a BBC Outside Broadcast van that was situated outside the Albert Hall, in an attempt to stop the televising of the 1970 Miss World Contest. The reason for these small attacks you ask? Well, the Angry Brigade hoped that this campaign would incite their proletariat brothers and sisters, inspiring a working class revolution resulting in the over-throwing of consumer capitalism…

The Women’s Liberation Movement VS Bob Hope

As anyone who has ever been on the stage knows, the show must go on! So on the 20th November 1970, the curtain lifted at The Royal Albert Hall in London and the Miss World Contest was ready to go. Unfortunately for the organisers, hundreds of Women’s Liberation protestors had infiltrated the theatre, and how did they manage to sneak in you may wonder…?

They bought tickets.

Decrepit and creepy comedian Bob Hope is on the stage, being a sexist tw*t as per. So used was he to saying whatever lurid statement masquerading as a joke that he was taken by surprise when he was barraged with flour bombs. Hope completely freaks out and legs it off the stage because he thinks he hears a firecracker – which as it turns out was a football rattle that the crowds used to use to cheer at games back in the day, and maybe they still do… whomst to say!?

These protestors were p*ssed off, as ardent white feminists they were unhappy to the point of disgust about the mistreatment and objectification of women and they wanted to send a clear message about the blatant f**king misogyny.

So flour bombs, stink bombs and rattles ahoy! The initial plan was to cause a commotion during the swimsuit parade, but upon deliberation they decided to target sleazeball Bob Hope, because a) He was a walking, talking, living embodiment of patriarchal nonsense and b) they didn’t want to embarrass or upset the women taking part in the pageant.

Pretty Women, Some Pretty Angry

Miss Sweden, Marjorie Christel Johansson – who just so happened to be the bookies’ favourite to win but ended up coming up as the 4th Runner Up – stated that none of the contestants were even remotely aware that the protestors were even there, let alone caused a commotion until after the pageant. The participants were well shielded by the event’s organisers from the protest and the disruption.

Johansson also claimed that no-one from the Women’s Liberation Movement tried to contactor connect with the contestants, saying that they did want the same things, they were just going about it differently.

Making History in the Face of Colourism

So Miss World had been running for 19 years and in those 19 years, every single winner was either white or light-skinned, in fact it was only four years earlier that Reita Faria became the first Asian woman to take the crown.

So on the 20th November 1970, for the first time in it’s history, a black woman was crowned Miss World. Jennifer Hosten – Miss Grenada – made history by winning that crown.

In an unprecedented turn of events, not only was Miss Grenada the overall winner, but the first runner up was also a black woman, yes indeed, that accolade went to Miss Africa South! Who, by the way, was a massive hit with her fellow contestants.

Oh Look, Racism!

Upon the announcement of Miss Grenada’s win, many members of the studio audience really let their racism show, with a crowd congregating in the street chanting “Sweden, Sweden, SWEDEN!” You see, the crowd could not believe that first and second place were taken by black women and not the Aryan-featured Miss Sweden.

The next thing you know the day after the contest, the BBC and national newspapers were hit with a myriad of complaints and accusations about the results, with non even remotely-veiled racism coming in from all angles!

Daily sh*trag, The Sun, had the undiluted audacity to claim that Miss Grenada’s victory was a conspiracy by black members of the judging panel. Apparently, because the Grenadian Prime Minister, Sir Eric Gairy was on the panel, it must have been rigged!!! Even though there were judges from other participating countries, many of whom were gasp white!

The Score Card Scandal

Math isn’t everyone’s strong point and as such, we shouldn’t be to o surprised that the Miss World scorecard caused a lot of confusion. The scoring worked a lot like proportional representation as opposed to the concept of first passed the post. Effectively, many were befuddled by the fact that Grenada got two 1st place votes, while Sweden had four 1st place votes out of nine people. However Grenada had garnered more 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th place votes, earning her the most points out of all of the finalists.

Okay now, carry the one…

Eric Morley…probably

Eric Morley had to physically show and explain the voting cards, effectively to spell out that the contest had not actually been rigged.

Miss Grenada, Jennifer Hosten

Born in Grenada, 1947, Jennifer Hosten studied in London, worked for the BBC Caribbean Radio Service and for a time worked as a flight attendant before winning the title of Miss World 1970. After winning the pageant Hosten goes on tour with Bob Hope, making numerous appearances and performing the necessary duties as Miss World.

After getting married, Hosten moves to Canada and earns he Masters of Arts in Political Science & International Relations from Carleton University, Ottawa. Somewhere between getting those well-deserved credentials and having two children – a boy and a girl, in case you were wondering – Hosten goes on to become a Canadian diplomat.

Miss Africa South, Pearl Janssen

Unfortunately for Pearl Janssen, her situation did not improve upon winning 1st Runner up at Miss World 1970. Apartheid was still very much an issue and upon returning to racially segregated South Africa, she was back living in a township. She lost her machinist job, she lost her livelihood because there was assumption that the Miss World title had filled her bank account, which it had not.

When TV arrived in South Africa, the white South African Miss World contestants were rounded up for work, but no such offer came for Janssen. The opportunities were bountiful, for those who were the right shade in Apartheid South Africa.

After half a lifetime, after the disillusionment, the anger and kicking cancer’s ass, at the age of 58 Pearl Janssen finally got her dream job, as a singer!

If your feminism isn’t intersectional, then it ain’t feminism

Katie Charlwood

Women’s Liberation Movement

The feminist activists’ disruption did overshadow the historic win somewhat, however the Women’s Lib had no idea such a historic moment was going to take place. That being said, their actions that night on this widely televised event really helped their cause, because on the 6th March 1971, over 4,000 women, children and men took to the streets.

After their protest garnered attention for their cause, 4,000 people braved the sleet and snow to join the very first British march for women’s liberation. Marching from Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square, 4,000 strong for equal pay and equal rights, many of whom would not have heard of the movement before the Miss World protest.

The End Result

Winning the contest was more than just representing their countries, it was about breaking the barriers of Eurocentric beauty features, standards and norms. At the end of the day black is beautiful, brown is beautiful, Asian, Middle-Eastern, White, Pasifika, etc. Every woman at Miss World 1970, from the participants to the protestors, were fighting for their own place in the world, and it isn’t up to one group to demand what is best for all.

Remember kiddos, if your feminism isn’t intersectional, then it ain’t feminism.