Nell McShane Wulfhart

This was an easy four stars and is recommended if you’ve read Come Fly the World, which focuses on Pan Am. The Great Stewardess Rebellion covers flight attendants from multiple airlines in the United States and recounts how they ended up being the trailblazers for gender equality by fighting utterly ridiculous employment standards. Female flight attendants couldn’t be married, couldn’t get pregnant, couldn’t be older than 32, and had to weigh an unhealthily low amount. Once men were show more allowed to become flight attendants, they weren’t measured by the same standards, especially the weight limit — men could weigh up to the maximum weight for a man’s “large” frame, but women were not allowed to weigh more than a woman’s “small” frame, even though it might be healthier to carry more weight. The flight attendants cleverly used the airlines’ ridiculously sexist advertising against them and eventually working conditions changed. This book not only tells the flight attendants’ stories but also the legal context in which these battles were being fought: one of the main viewpoints is of a lawyer who worked for the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission. That part of the story was interesting because I hadn’t come across it before. show less

An inspiring read about women who decided to take charge of their working conditions. It is easy for us to take for granted what we now have as rights. So much so that some young women don't see the ongoing need for feminism. It is, therefore, so important to learn about and remember and honour those who fought so hard for our rights.

Labour unions, that bastion of egalitarianism, treated female members as second-class citizens for far too long. Stewardesses were seen as hostesses, there for show more the enjoyment of predominantly male passengers. They were not recognized as trained professionals there for passenger safety. On top of the unfairness and sexism, think of the implications for public safety if the person responsible for evacuating a crashed plane was starving, dressed in a miniskirt and high heeled go-go boots.

The book looks at history and legal cases. And it focuses on a few women in depth so we can follow their stories. This book is well written, easy to read and so informative. show less

When this book was selected as our book club's book, the only copy available to me was an audiobook, so I listened to it--which is a bit odd for me for nonfiction. The author interviewed (or at least I assume that is the case since I could not see the end notes) flight attendants from multiple airlines who were involved in the women's movement within that sector which fought for equal pay for women. Part of that was getting rid of their image as sex object and automatic firing if one gained show more weight, married, became pregnant, etc. The women unionized, at first joining established transportation unions, but eventually forming their own because the unions were not really on their side. I found myself wondering what my cousin who worked as a flight attendant for many years or a friend who also worked as one would think of the book. I'd really love to hear it from their perspective. Neither of them were as feminist as the author and women involved were, and it might provide an interesting contrast. show less

This interesting book was recommended by BookPage. It's the story of flight attendants (originally called stewardesses) told mainly through the actions of Patt Gibbs and Tommie Hutto though many others were involved in the changes to the industry.

Those more familiar with labor organizations/labor relations and unions may understand parts of the book better than I did. It made me think--my grandfather (He's gone now.) used to teach about that topic, but yet I seem to know little about it.

In show more the beginning, the job was meant for young, "perfect", single women--with age limits and weight requirements, mandatory retirement upon marriage. Uniforms were determined by the airlines (and some of the uniforms sound pretty hideous!). Changes occurred gradually and this is the story of how that happened.

Deregulation of the airline industry seems to have changed the profession more--that is discussed at the very end of the book but not in as much detail as the other changes that came before that time. show less