And what is self-expression
N 1970, the Miss World competition in London was thrown into chaos when feminist activists staged a protest in the middle of the ceremony.
At the time it was the mostwatched TV show on the planet, with more than 100 million viewers, and the stage invasion gave the newly formed Women’s Liberation Movement overnight fame.
But the controversy did not end there. When the show resumed, the winner was not the heavily favoured Miss Sweden, Maj Christel Johansson, but Miss Grenada, Jennifer Hosten, the first black woman to be crowned Miss World.
A new film about those events, Misbehaviour, stars Keira Knightley as one of the protest ringleaders,
Sally Alexander.
“I didn’t know about it before this,” she admits as she settles back in her chair in a London hotel suite.
“I had no idea the Women’s Lib had stormed the Miss World competition, I knew nothing about any of that.
“I found it fascinating, I think the fact it’s the clash of all of these different points of view and all of these different interesting things happening at once.
“It’s the birth of the Women’s Liberation Movement, but equally talking about that intersection between feminism and racism.
“It was quite unexpected in the way that it was told. I didn’t feel it was preachy. I felt it really did have a conversation and I think we are having that conversation right now.”
Indeed the intersection of feminism and racism has been a hot button issue in recent years, as the question of how white privilege affects the feminist movement has been more closely examined.
“Isn’t it interesting that was 1970 and we are still having the same conversation now and still trying to figure it out?” Keira says.
“But I think it’s the conversation that is important and clearly that was a conversation that stopped happening for about 20 years in the middle there, so I think the fact that we are trying to talk about it, the fact that we are trying to progress and to give women more equal opportunities, can only be a positive thing.”
The film deftly shows that progress for women takes more than one form. While the white activists are comparing the competition to a cattle market, the black entrants see how powerful their presence in the competition is, for upending Western standards of beauty and inspiring younger girls.
“There have always been very different ideas,” Keira says, thoughtfully, “About are you allowed to wear high heels, what about lipstick? Should you be feminine? Should you be more masculine? Should you flaunt your sexuality? Is that, in fact, a form of oppression?
“I think we are still grappling with that. We are still trying to figure out what is a form of self-expression and what is a form of objectification.
“I think that is an argument that is still being had and that is an
Keira Knightley plays a Women’s Lib activist who disrupts the Miss World contest in 1970 in the new film Misbehaviour. She talks to
about feminism, seeking out female filmmakers and why she is taking on more politically aware roles argument that this film has.
“On the one hand, the Women’s Libbers are saying, ‘This is a disgusting show of oppression, this is pure objectification, it is a cattle market’, and on the other hand you have several women saying, ‘But look, I’m a woman of colour and if other girls see that I am here, this is beautiful, then that is an important message. And also this can be a platform for me to do more with my life’.
“They are both right, both very interesting points of view and I think it’s nice when you can really explore the two sides without judging, without condemning either of them. You can actually listen to the argument.”
The role of Alexander is the latest in a string of more politically and socially