Sex and the Stewardess: In Air Travel’s Glamour Days, Men Need Not Have Applied
Travel Blog • Julia Ross • 09.28.07 | 3:55 PM ET
How times have changed. Forty years ago, air travel was still considered the realm of celebrities and corporate raiders, many of whom enjoyed personal attention from mini-skirted flight attendants hired for their sex appeal. Men interested in pursuing work as flight attendants, however, didn’t stand a chance; airlines made it clear that being female was a requirement for the job. That changed thanks to a landmark 1967 employment discrimination suit filed by a married father of two, Celio Diaz, Jr., who broke the glass ceiling for male flight attendants in a four-year battle with Pan Am. In recounting Diaz’s story, a Los Angeles Times op-ed opens a window onto a long-forgotten era when airlines eagerly used sexism as a marketing ploy.
Writers Kate Johnson and Albert Garcia remind us: “Though men exclusively served as flight stewards at the dawn of commercial aviation, by the 1950s all the major airlines reinvented the occupation as an exclusively female domain. Targeting businessmen as their core customer base, many airlines established academies where they would train stewardesses to walk that fine line between mini-skirt-clad siren and nurturing potential wife.”
A YouTube video poking fun at Southwest Airlines over the Kyla Ebbert/inappropriate attire incident has some choice photos of female flight attendants working the skies circa late 1960s/early 70s. Knee-high white boots appear to be required dress.
Related on World Hum:
* The Return of the Stews
* The New Hot Job in India: Flight Attendant
* The Not-So-Glamorous Life of a Flight Attendant
Photo by Mandroid via Flickr (Creative Commons).
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Sheila at Family Travel 09.28.07 | 5:38 PM ET
I read the book “Coffee, Tea or Me” written by what was then called a stewardess. I think I was in high school at the time, so that was pretty racy for me!
It’s getting really annoying, you know, how often I seem to remember “old coot” stuff like that….:)
GoonerK 10.01.07 | 7:15 PM ET
I also read “Coffee, Tea or Me,” and at the time, it was fairly scandalous, yet typical of the sort of “literature” and film that was helping to define the sexual revolution. My roommate at the time was desperate to become a Delta flight attendant (then known as a stewardess). She was rejected because she wasn’t tall enough, but I suspect it was because her application photo (yes, she had to submit a PHOTO), wasn’t provocative enough. This was around 1976. She was devastated, but ultimately I think she’s better off. ;-) Still, in the long run, the sexual revolution benefited both men and women. But remember “Deep Throat”? The controversy that sparked in 1972 (and beyond), led to the resurrection of the “President’s council on pornography” (or some such animal), a slew of Supreme Court rulings on “decency,” and over time, the increasing conservatization (is that a word?) of America. At least in terms of our comfort with all things sexual. The last hot flight attendants I saw were on Singapore Air, and all gender lines were erased. What’s wrong with a sexy attendant—male OR female—bringing you your blankie at 30,000 feet?
Bob Macdonald 10.14.07 | 9:41 AM ET
I would like to share my own observations of flight attendants: I have travelled on most airlines in my job as an international consultant. I have had a fair few stews ask me out (once on Singapore, another time a couple of KLM stews while I was getting cash at the ATM). The prettiest are as follows: JAL, Aeroflot (but nasty bitches), BA (fun loving), Lufthansa (but very serious and German), Virgin (little minxes) , Scandinavian, and Mongolian. Apart from Southwest, no American airlines - they stand out for having rattled old flight vets whose best days are long gone.
xandria products 03.05.08 | 11:12 PM ET
Sexism? I think it is still considered that it shoud be the pretty girls should be the attendant on plane. Ask every men than if whom they would prefer. All will answer to pretty girls.
peets tea coffee inc 04.21.08 | 2:13 PM ET
Many other businesses go by the same principles when it comes to hiring new staff. Secretaries must be women. Almost in every case. At a car show, I never saw a young beautiful man model standing by a shiny red car. Always some blond smiling girl with clothes that fit my 3 year old.
Eric Alexander 09.29.08 | 8:05 AM ET
As a male passenger, who would you prefer ? A very pretty young flight attendant who is all thumbs, drops beverages on your lap a couple of times, not to mention a few other no-no’s OR a mature air hostess who is thoroughly professional in her job ?