The indispensable W. Joseph Campbell:
It is claimed from time to time that burning bras figured in no feminist protest of the late 1960s and 1970s. Bra-burning, it is sometimes said, was little more than a media-concocted myth.
But this photograph, taken near Toronto city hall in March 1979, suggests otherwise.The occasion was International Women’s Day and the demonstrators were protesting the contents of a controversial Ontario Provincial Police report about rape.
But why would protesters incensed about a police report burn bras? The connection seems elusive.
And that’s one reason why I wonder about the photo’s authenticity, whether it was improperly edited. I’m not saying it’s a hoax or a ruse; I’m saying I have reservations.
