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Coffee, Tea, or ...?: Feminism and Flight Attendants — A History
A history of the hard-won feminist gains in Canadian airlines.
When Trans Canada Airlines first hired women in 1938, it was to reassure people that flying was safe, and to bring an aura of femininity and glamour to commercial aviation. Serving a primarily male audience, the stewardesses endured unsafe conditions and gender discrimination while showing unflagging pride and enthusiasm, aware that, in the midst of the Depression, they had highly sought-after jobs. It wasn’t until the Second World War that male flight attendants, or stewards, were first hired. Stewards and stewardesses eventually unionized in 1948.
But during their long fight for recognition, the stewardesses’ abilities to make their arduous duties seem effortless worked against them, and airline management did not take their union activism seriously. Regarded by society as waitresses in the sky, they were sexualized in the sixties, even as they picketed for better working conditions. Today, as safety authorities, flight attendants have become visible symbols of social change.
When Trans Canada Airlines first hired women in 1938, it was to reassure people that flying was safe, and to bring an aura of femininity and glamour to commercial aviation. Serving a primarily male audience, the stewardesses endured unsafe conditions and gender discrimination while showing unflagging pride and enthusiasm, aware that, in the midst of the Depression, they had highly sought-after jobs. It wasn’t until the Second World War that male flight attendants, or stewards, were first hired. Stewards and stewardesses eventually unionized in 1948.
But during their long fight for recognition, the stewardesses’ abilities to make their arduous duties seem effortless worked against them, and airline management did not take their union activism seriously. Regarded by society as waitresses in the sky, they were sexualized in the sixties, even as they picketed for better working conditions. Today, as safety authorities, flight attendants have become visible symbols of social change.
208 pages, ebook
Published December 1, 2018
4 people want to read
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June 22, 2022
Aviation is one of the professions where gender or racial injustices have persisted to obstruct opportunities for those who do not match a stereotype (a white man). This book, tells the story of how w omen are frequently linked with parenting, home tasks, and caring for our spouses' needs, so a flying career, which was often envisioned for the opposite sex, was out of reach.
Peter Pigott gives us a fantastic narrative of women in aviation, based on feminist ideals from Amelia Earhart to Virginia Woolf, both from his own experience as a child raised by parents part of this field, and from the stories of the "softer sex" who chose this path. This book is certainly what we all need in our personal libraries today, including tales from the media, but especially Hollywood's influence in this field, to real-life legends such as Jane Herveu (one of the namesakes behind this book) to Raymonde de Laroche, who started a women's flying school in France.
Many current concerns are addressed in this author's work: sexism, racism, rejection given marital status, to mention a few. However, as the author ultimately finds, women can often make a career work even when it is designed without us in mind.
Peter Pigott gives us a fantastic narrative of women in aviation, based on feminist ideals from Amelia Earhart to Virginia Woolf, both from his own experience as a child raised by parents part of this field, and from the stories of the "softer sex" who chose this path. This book is certainly what we all need in our personal libraries today, including tales from the media, but especially Hollywood's influence in this field, to real-life legends such as Jane Herveu (one of the namesakes behind this book) to Raymonde de Laroche, who started a women's flying school in France.
Many current concerns are addressed in this author's work: sexism, racism, rejection given marital status, to mention a few. However, as the author ultimately finds, women can often make a career work even when it is designed without us in mind.
Displaying 1 of 1 review