re: I suspect that stewardess was derived from steward when a whole set of nautical terms were imported into the airline industry. If I am correct, and if one understands the role of a steward on an ocean liner,
then the term stewardess is a perfect job description.
[rant]
why wouldn't steward still be the correct term? OH, yeah, they are women mostly (or were exclusively at first)
and they weren't quite stewards, they were a little less.. (how do we know? cause they got the 'feminized/diminutive ' term--stewardess.
call them stewards. or flight attendants. now that they come in both male and female varieties..
cabin steward is fine term. stewardess, is not.
and lets not forget, the first flight attendents, (on Pam Am for sure, and many other airlines as well) had to be RN's, and to meet specific qualification on height and weight.
now weight was an issue on flights in the past (i remember in the 1960's it was normal to for the ticket/check in clerk to ask your weight, and to weigh all of your luggage, (carry ons as well as stowed bags) and they were very strict about weight limits on luggage.
so, it makes sense to be concerned about flight attendants weight too.
but, there were no heigh or weight requirements on the pilot, co pilot, navigator or engineer (or other 'command' personel.) Hmm. i guess their weight didn't effect the plane/flying the way the flight attendents weight did. or maybe it just wasn't part of their job requirement to be eye candy. It wasn't enough to qualified (ie an RN).
[/rant]
