How Women Launched a Workplace Revolution at 30,000 Feet
February 15, 2022
A New York Times contributor examines how airline stewardesses stood up to their misogynist industry. When 19-year-old Patt Gibbs interviewed to become a stewardess in 1961, she had no fondness for the "high heels, makeup, [and] girdles" or expectations for "Barbie-slim[ness]" she associated with the job. What she did have was youth and status as an unmarried woman at a time when airlines pushed stewardesses into retirement once they reached their 30s or married. Wulfhart, a seasoned travel reporter who has also written for Travel + Leisure, Bon App�tit, and other publications, interweaves Gibbs' personal story with a larger narrative of how female flight attendants struggled to build long-term careers built on benefits and good wages rather than the promise of glamour and adventure. Like her future colleagues, Gibbs' professional journey began at "the charm farm," a stewardess college that trained women in emergency procedures, personal stylishness, and what the promotional material called "the gracious art of making people happy." Yet Gibbs, who was "coming into her own as a lesbian" though not "out," was disciplined almost immediately for violating sexist airline rules like not wearing white gloves at all times and riding a motorcycle to work. Drafted into a weak stewardess union, Gibbs went from reluctant member to one of its leading spokespeople. Over the next several years, she and her union colleagues struggled against dress codes that forced stewardesses into miniskirts, flimsy paper dresses, and go-go boots. Gibbs led the fight to join with the then-male dominated Transport Workers Union for expansion of flight attendant rights and then spearheaded a new, woman-led Association of Professional Flight Attendants in the 1970s when the TWU faltered in its promises to help the stewardesses reach their goals. Accompanied by occasional black-and-white images, this engaging narrative offers a fascinating look at how the intersection of the women's and labor movements helped a little-discussed, female-dominated profession achieve viability and respect. An informatively readable combination of cultural and feminist history.
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February 14, 2022
Travel writer Wulfhart (Off Menu) delivers a rousing history of how airline stewardesses in the 1960s and ’70s “harness the energy of the women’s movement to make radical change.” At the time, Wulfhart explains, female flight attendants were banned from marrying or getting pregnant and aged out of the job in their early 30s. They also made five times less than pilots, had no retirement benefits, and had strict weight limits. Wulfhart spotlights a trio of women who spearheaded the fight: stewardess Patt Gibbs led the movement to break away from the male-dominated Transport Workers Union and form the independent Association of Professional Flight Attendants; her colleague, Tommie Hutto, helped launch the feminist group Stewardesses for Women’s Rights. Sonia Pressman, a lawyer at the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, pushed the agency to find that the airlines were in violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act’s prohibition on sex-based discrimination. Throughout, Wulfhart lucidly contextualizes the stewardesses’ campaign within the larger feminist movement, and shares striking anecdotes of the insults they endured and the dedication it took to reform “the most sexist workplace in America.” The result is an invigorating and inspiring story of women triumphing over discrimination. Agent: Lauren Sharp, Aevitas Creative Management.
Starred review from March 1, 2022
McShane Wulfhart's engaging chronicle of the labor movement launched by U.S. airline stewardesses who flew the not-so-friendly skies in the 1960s and '70s has an eye-opening anecdote on every page; even the union negotiations are entertaining and informative. She writes that the "stewardess ideal" of the midcentury golden age of air travel hid the turmoil bubbling under the industry's surface; stewardesses--whose jobs demanded they be educated, poised, and well-groomed--soon turned into excellent faces of labor and feminist movements. Learning to question long-held misconceptions and media-inspired images of what a stewardess should be, these women forced a change in the corporate culture of airlines: They fought for professional uniforms; argued against the profession's strict rules about weight, age, and marriage; and demanded better pay and benefits to match those of the men joining their ranks. McShane Wulfhart's book demonstrates how the stewardesses' labor fight affected the state of modern American employment and helped enshrine many of the workplace rights women have today. VERDICT Recommended for readers of women's history and histories of the airline industry, and anyone looking for an engaging and entertaining read.--Amanda Ray
Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
March 1, 2022
This engaging account describes how women flight attendants (or stewardesses, as they were known during the last half of the twentieth century) fought for decades for equal wages, an end to blatantly sexist work cultures, and the respect due to them as highly skilled professionals. This account also offers insightful profiles of two women who successfully led these campaigns against seemingly impossible odds: Patt Gibbs and Tommie Hutto. Their compelling stories unfold against the backdrop of the turbulent 1960s and '70s. The most disturbing parts of the book describe misogynistic training schools and the job expectations enforced across the airline industry. These extremes (mandatory girdles and white gloves; routine public, supervised weigh-ins) were exceeded only by shockingly distasteful advertising campaigns touting stewardesses' presumed sexual availability. Travel journalist Wulfhart explains union wranglings, emerging legislation, and lengthy court battles within context, exposing the era's expectations regarding women's roles as sex objects, wives, and mothers in stark reality. This is an eye-opening chapter in the history of feminism and women's rights.
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