A Study of Male Flight Attendants, Queerness, and Corporate Capitalism during the Cold War Era

Graduate Program: American Studies

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"Coffee, tea, or me?"

Rachel Jones and Baker, many Americans by the late 1960s were in on the joke. Air stewardesses by that time had the reputation of given that more than just beverage service; they had also become extremely coveted-and allegedly available-beauty queens. Their youth, feminine charm and thinness, not to mention their jet-setting lifestyle that suggested exoticism and opulence, all accentuated their sex appeal. Further encouraged by racy ad campaigns showcasing female bodies and slogans such as "Fly Me," many male customers boarding planes obviously expected to be greeted with a rousing display of feminine bravado.

What customers got was frequently quite a bit different: a gentlemanly greeting from a man, professionally dressed in a suit, yet just as willing as his female colleagues to pour coffee and pass out pillows. By 1972 the female flight attendant had new male companions, who had just won the right to enter (or, better said, re-enter) this heavily female workforce. A Supreme Court order from November of 1971, inspired by Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act which prohibited office discrimination based on sex, was the impetus for this integration of the flight attendant corps. Some straight men's sexual frustration with this decision was evident not only from numerous passengers' reactions of dismay, but also from the media's reporting on the Court's decision. Even the otherwise strictly-business Wall Street Journal churlishly mused, "To the extent male stewards replace glamorous stewardesses, the case may show to be one of the more controversial interpretations of the 1964 law among members of the male-dominated Congress."