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Back when flying was glamorous, expensive and profoundly sexist.

"As a male attendant, Kubis was not alone — until 1930, flight attendants were exclusively men. But that pattern was broken in 1930 when United Airlines hired the first female flight attendant — Ellen Church, a registered nurse. And in an extraordinary and complete reversal, by the end of the 1930s there were no male attendants at all. All were exclusively women under the age of 25.

With a sad and depressing inevitability, the very first complainants to the American Equal Employment Opportunity Commission were all women employed as flight attendants. This was not a subjective perception of discrimination — every airline fired its flight attendants after the age of 35, fired them if they weighed more than a specified amount, and, yes, fired them if they got married. "

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by Anonymousreply 7August 21, 2019 10:22 PM

Something that seems to be suddenly flowing into the mainstream consciousness and dialogue: people want that sexism back, at least according to what I’ve been hearing.

It’s striking. After a recent business trip, several of my colleagues and board members were complaining about flying (especially United) because (my complaint) of how gratuitously rude the airline staffs are—as if they’ve been trained to TRY to be nasty—and all the costs, etc. But then someone, a 60 year-old man, commented that he remembers when flight attendants were all young and glamourous. That was obvious code for “bangable.” Someone joked that those young women are still serving on airlines today. And then everyone started bitching about the ages and appearances of flight attendants and *most of these people were women over 60 years old.* I think it’s no different than movie stars and models. It is sexist, but women regard it as “aspirational” and “fantasy.” And I bet most women would never admit it unless/until they are in the company of all women or else mixed company and a man brings it up first. I find it curious. I don’t care if the person who gives me a cup of coffee is a grandma or a grandpa. I just don’t want them to do it with a sneer, as if I am burdening them by sitting in my seat when they come by and offer an 80-calorie garbage pack of crap that I really don’t want.

by Anonymousreply 1August 21, 2019 11:41 AM

[quote]Back when flying was glamorous

This epitomizes peak DL

by Anonymousreply 2August 21, 2019 11:53 AM

I remember.

by Anonymousreply 3August 21, 2019 12:28 PM

My dad's second wife had been an airline stewardess for Pan Am. That was like saying she had won an important beauty title back in the day.

by Anonymousreply 4August 21, 2019 12:43 PM

Airlines like to hire the old skags.

They work cheap and their lives are nearly over. The payouts for death-by-crash are a lot smaller than for the younger gals.

by Anonymousreply 5August 21, 2019 12:54 PM

These days, hot young women can find better jobs than pushing carts of microwaved food and repeating the flight safety instructions ten times a day!

No, the airlines managed to staff their airplanes entirely with pretty young women, because in the mid 20th century so few decent jobs were available to women that a low-paid job with travel benefits seemed like a much better deal than a low-paid job like teaching brats or waitressing. Now, women who want to base a career on their looks go into sales or personal training and have much better lives than stewardesses, and the air travel has become a flying glimpse of Hell. So no, the says of pretty stewardesses aren't coming back.

by Anonymousreply 6August 21, 2019 9:36 PM

[quote]Back when flying was glamorous, expensive and profoundly sexist.

And stinky.

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by Anonymousreply 7August 21, 2019 10:22 PM
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