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Joined: Oct 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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one of my aunts (eye candy in her day) got a job working for PanAm right after WWII (in dublin)
eye candy was a job requirement.
she wanted to be a stewardess, but back then PAA(as it was called in dublin) required stewaress to be RN's.
so she got relatives here to sponser her (and got a job)ie, transfered to NY office of PAA, and started in nursing school.
where she met a handsome young man, and married. and so dashed her plans for being a stewaress, since they were required to be unmarried! she continued to work as ticket agent, but was forced out when she became pregnant, (as they did in those dark days of the past.)
back then (right up to mid to late 1960's, stewardess had to be under 35, thin, trained and qualified as RN (back then, 2 years of college and 2 years of 'internship' before getting RN licence, and unmarried.
they had to look attractive (and look available.. no wedding rings permitted)
(and yeah, no air line was willing to take any of the military qualifed women on as pilots post WWII-- they were all basicly forced into retirement.. or to open their own businesses, or to work as stunt pilots in air shows. )
IF the job was for safety (as it is supposed to be by FAA regulations) then why the eye candy requirement? (under 35, thin, unmarried, and attractive. --really, attractive was an important part of the job 'qualifications' )--so, too, was 'under 35' as a job requirement.. (did pilots get booted at 35? did ship stewards? no. did pilots have to weigh in, (and get grounded if they gained 10 lbs?) no..
to me, stewardess is the whole 'coffee tea or me' required to be sex object, but also required to be skilled--the real job requirement by FAA standards were for safety, etc..
flight attendent now can work till they retire. (no age requirements) can work after they get married, and can work while pregnant --as long as doctor approves..their doctor, not company doctor! and flight attendend are sometime men, and men and woman earn the same salary..
its not so long ago none of that was true.
so yeah, i see the term as connoting very different ideas!
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
> i see the term as connoting very different ideas!
I agree. And although we'll soon be in dispute about chicken and eggs, I would guess many can see a correlation between re-labelling a job and forcing a reappraisal of what the role is supposed to be about. Do you ever er, encounter a male receptionist, as a matter of interest?
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
In my mumble-mumble years in sales, I've only met two male receptionists, one of which was only a temp covering for the regular receptionist that was on vacation.
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
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>a male receptionist
only when the security guy sits in during her break.
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
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the term stewardess is a perfect job description.
I ain' never seen no pigs on no airplane I ever been on.
Seriously, the term steward (nemmine that you ain' gone call no guy a stewardess) is extremely sloppy. The stewards on Navy ships take care of the officers. A wine steward keeps track of the wine in a restaurant. A shop steward is in charge of union affairs. The list goes on. And dinner calls.
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Joined: Sep 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
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I doubt very much the suggestion that steward derives from "sty-weard" and originally meant a keeper of pigs. I know that this folk etymology has been suggested but it is not supported by the best evidence, methinks.
Better is the notion that steward derives from "stiweard" in which sti refers to a great hall in a lord's home and weard refers to the person in charge of it. A steward in medieval times was entrusted with the running of the lord's property.
E.g.
"Apart from a very complete staff of servants there were only four of us in the household. These were Miss Witherton, who was at that time four-and-twenty and as pretty--well, as pretty as Mrs. Colmore is now--myself, Frank Colmore, aged thirty, Mrs. Stevens, the housekeeper, a dry, silent woman, and Mr. Richards, a tall military-looking man, who acted as steward to the Bollamore estates. We four always had our meals together, but Sir John had his usually alone in the library."
~from "The Japanned Box" in Six Tales of Mystery by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
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Joined: Dec 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
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refers to the person in charge of it
Well, there you go. The stewardess flies the plane. The pilot is only there for take-offs and landings.
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