“I had to sign a contract as a new hire that I would quit after 10 years, or that I would quit at 32 years old, whichever came first. Can you believe that?” the
Her initial interview with
“I was told to wear a skirt and I was told to turn around. That was my first experience with what you might call sexism.”
Before the 1970s, female cabin crew, then known as stewardesses, faced discriminatory hiring and work policies marked by strict weight limits, age ceilings, appearance guidelines and marriage bans. But, amid a swelling tide of second-wave feminism — from Chatelaine to the
Regular weigh-ins — when cabin crew stepped on a scale before departure — were also required.
“I had a weight restriction of 112 to 116 pounds. So if I weighed less than that or more than that, I got taken off the line with no pay,” Barnes recalled.
“I never saw the boys step on the scale.”
Management regulated appearance down to the last eyelash. Each worker was told during a two-month training program which mascara and eyeliner to wear, available only from the company store.
“When I got hired, I had red hair and freckles. They told me on my trips to
In 1970, Canadian Pacific conceded to end the marriage ban following demands from a small group of flight attendants, including Barnes. A wave of “new” nuptials followed immediately.
“Of course, some people had been married for a year. They were just not going to quit,” Barnes recalled. “I was married long before I was allowed to be.”
At the time, pregnancy was also a no-no, until Barnes’s committee demanded accommodation, she said. After the change, stewardesses still went unpaid until they returned from leave.
“You had six weeks — six weeks — after your child was born to have that weigh-in,” she added.
The same year, Barnes formed a group with several other activists who demanded to know why women weren’t allowed to be “pursers” — male crew members who supervised operations in the cabin. Often, there weren’t enough men to fill the roles, so the senior “stewardess” would step in — at lesser pay.
Reform was not immediate. At
Ironically, the changes spearheaded by flight attendants arrived just as the image associated with the job became more sexualized.
Ad campaigns featured young women who mouthed taglines such as “Fly me” —
The portrayal bucked the more competence-driven view of the role apparent in films such as the 1956 thriller “Julie” starring
“There was this new, hyper-sexualized stereotype of flight attendants at the exact moment that flight attendants are really finally pushing hard against the airlines to get fair work rules,” said
Before airline deregulation in 1978 in the
“Part of why you see airlines so interested in what their flight attendants look like — and how they can use them as marketing tools — is because they're limited in the other ways they can compete," Barry said.
The battle didn’t end with the 1970s, however.
For years, some airlines failed to provide uniforms for pregnant employees, including pilots.
“My last child was born in 1990, and I never had a maternity uniform,” she said, with a wry chuckle.
Nor was success unfaltering.
In 1987, Dukovich, who had graduated from Osgoode Hall law school while working as a flight attendant a decade earlier, filed a complaint alleging widespread sex discrimination that detailed “harassing and threatening” practices of dress and appearance regulation.
Dukovich told the Globe and Mail at the time that Wardair, which she'd joined after leaving
The comments resulted in a two-week suspension, and the human rights complaint did not proceed.
Initially, even the wins often came on a technicality rather than a recognition of sexist standards.
In 1971,
Union members
However, a decision by the tribunal simply stated that the outfit was not the “standard” uniform and found that it was “unnecessary to come to any conclusion” on whether “sexist and demeaning” garb was unreasonable, according to a 2016 journal article by
“Even when they win some of these cases, it's often not challenging the actual sexism and gender inequality,” said Smith, assistant professor of labour studies at the
“There was kind of an accepted view that it was men’s prerogative on the plane — in particular men travelling alone — to ogle and to leer and to look at the stewardesses’ legs,” said Sangster, professor emeritus at
Since then, flight attendants have made big gains in workplace equality, she added, though harassment remains an issue.
Harassment-specific complaints that cite sex rose 58 per cent between 2004 and 2018, according to the
“I think there’s much more recognition of the difficulties of flying,” said Dukovich. “It’s not seen as just a server in the sky.
“Still, these are societal issues,” she said. “So it’s a work in progress.”
She also took pains to stress the upsides of the work, even 50 years ago. “The camaraderie is wonderful. You’re a team.”
Barnes speculated that the glamour surrounding the industry may initially have undercut the push for change. “We felt like we were special,” said the B.C. resident, who left aviation in the late 1970s and went on to become a marketing executive.
“I can’t say I’m a trailblazer, but I did what was right for us.”
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