Miss World 1970: Beauty Queens and Bedlam

In 1970 Miss World met the Women's Liberation Movement. Some protestors disrupted the contest with flour bombs and leaflets.

There were rumblings for some years that beauty pageants were glorified cattle markets.

Michael Aspel who compered many Miss World pageants wryly observed "People love to look at girls." Maybe that was the secret of Miss World's success for so many decades.

This documentary talked to some of the now elderly protestors and the contestants. A side issue being that Miss World also displayed hidden racism.

This would be the first time there would be a black winner of Miss World. Jennifer Hosten from Grenada.

Previously winners tended to be blondes representing the eurocentric nature of the winners. There were two entrants from South Africa, due to apartheid only white contestants could officially represent the country.

Pearl Jansen who represented Africa South was a runner up and beat the white South African contestant.

It was an interestingly look back at the women's liberation movement half a century ago. Although there was little middle ground between the women who were pro beauty pageant and those against it.

Miss Sweden used it as a stepping stone for life as a model. Miss Grenada went on to obtain a master's degree and went on to become a diplomat.

Low points was British born American comedy legend Bob Hope's jokes. He was the co-compere that year with Aspel. His jokes stank the Royal Albert Hall out and spurred the women to unleash the flour bombs.

The other one was the presence of anti apartheid campaigner Peter Hain. He went on to become a cabinet minister in Tony Blair's Labour government.

He lost all credibility when on the television show Question Time. Hain told a member of the audience to trust him, that he had seen the Iraq dossier and there was a sufficient case to go to war. Later Hain admitted that he was misled by the dossier. Tosser.