Cabin Crew Discussion

[cactustwirly]

I haven't noticed this on BA or easyJet, however it is more prominent on Thomson or Virgin Atlantic

 

[Harbornite]

I’m really not sure why that is! I can’t say I’ve come across many who have been very camp, either.

Same here. In fact I can honestly say, I've never come over a little queer!

 

[AlterEgo]

I’m sure I saw a male flight attendant blow a mock kiss at me on a flight to Fuerteventura! It freaked me out to say the least...

See, definitely a note in your booking! Maybe change your aftershave?

Doesn’t happen to me.

 

[fowler9]

See, definitely a note in your booking! Maybe change your aftershave?

Doesn’t happen to me.

I get the male and female cabin crew blowing kisses at me, they are only human after all.

 

[bb21]

I’m sure I saw a male flight attendant blow a mock kiss at me on a flight to Fuerteventura! It freaked me out to say the least...

Congratulations.

 

[TheAdelante]

Well I wish they wouldn’t. I’m a fifteen year old and a dude, for god’s sake!

 

[fowler9]

Well I wish they wouldn’t. I’m a fifteen year old and a dude, for god’s sake!

Ah no, fair enough mate. Only kidding.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Well I wish they wouldn’t. I’m a fifteen year old guy, for god’s sake!

Yeah but to be fair you can tell that they’re joking. It’s nothing to get worked up about really!

 

[Bletchleyite]

“Air steward” - that term went out a long time ago!

There aren’t that many outrageously camp flight attendants around. Certainly in my 300+ sectors in the last few years I’m hard pushed to think of any.

Haven’t flown on Virgin Atlantic though.

"Flight attendant" is an Americanism; most people I know call them stewards/stewardesses. It's "host/hostess" that has died out.

UK airlines tend to call them "cabin crew".

On the original question...I have a very good friend who is gay and he says his "gaydar" does agree with it most of the time!

 

[fowler9]

My sister is cabin crew, if you called her a stewardess or hostess she would not be happy.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

My sister is cabin crew, if you called her a stewardess or hostess she would not be happy.

Why’s that?

 

[Bromley boy]

My sister is cabin crew, if you called her a stewardess or hostess she would not be happy.

A friend of a friend is a male cabin crew (at the camp end of the spectrum). He refers to himself as a trolly dolly, much to the disgust of his female colleagues.

 

[fowler9]

A friend of a friend is a male cabin crew (at the camp end of the spectrum). He refers to himself as a trolly dolly, much to the disgust of his female colleagues.

Ha ha. Blimey. Yeah I can't imagine that always goes down too well. In a weird way without wanting to be dead serious that probably does just make things more difficult for the rest of the crew when the idiot element of the public already think the cabin crew are just there to sell booze and aftershave and have their bum pinched.

 

[TheAdelante]

A friend of a friend is a male cabin crew (at the camp end of the spectrum). He refers to himself as a trolly dolly, much to the disgust of his female colleagues.

Well, I can’t really blame them...

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Ha ha. Blimey. Yeah I can't imagine that always goes down too well. In a weird way without wanting to be dead serious that probably does just make things more difficult for the rest of the crew when the idiot element of the public already think the cabin crew are just there to sell booze and aftershave and have their bum pinched.

Anyone who thinks that stewardesses are there to have their bottoms pinched are freaky perverts.

 

[Bromley boy]

Ha ha. Blimey. Yeah I can't imagine that always goes down too well. In a weird way without wanting to be dead serious that probably does just make things more difficult for the rest of the crew when the idiot element of the public already think the cabin crew are just there to sell booze and aftershave and have their bum pinched.

To be fair he takes his job seriously and I'm sure he would never dream of saying it when he's at work, for exactly that reason. But quite amusing in a social situation!

 

[TheAdelante]

But quite amusing in a social situation!

Certainly a matter of opinion. I do not find camp in anyway funny.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Certainly a matter of opinion. I do not find camp in anyway funny.

It causes irritating stereotypes.

 

[Bromley boy]

Anyone who thinks that stewardesses are there to have their bottoms pinched are freaky perverts.

The time was that is exactly the image they were recruited in, during the 1950s and 60s when jet travel first took off (excuse the pun!). Young attractive female cabin crew who were there to be easy on the eye of the older, wealthy, male passengers who could afford the tickets!

Obviously ideas of what is socially acceptable are very different now but unfortunately some people (wrongly) still maintain this image in their heads.

 

[TheAdelante]

I would have thought that touching a cabin crew lady there would have been enough to get you arrested?!

 

[fowler9]

Anyone who thinks that stewardesses are there to have their bottoms pinched are freaky perverts.

I can assure you there are plenty still about.

I would have thought that touching a cabin crew lady there would have been enough to get you arrested?!

Things were not always as they are now. In fact people still do it.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Then they shouldn’t be allowed to fly! It’s not right!

 

[DanNCL]

Hi.
I hope that I do not cause offence or stereotypes by posting this, for that is the opposite of what I want to do. I am just curious.

But...I just wondered something. I am a very regular flyer, particularly with Virgin Atlantic and of course among the attractive female hostesses there are often a few male air stewards among them.

Now, I don’t know if I’m just imagining it but I feel like every male air steward that has ever been on my flight seems very camp ... its rather strange, literally EVERY male air steward I’ve flown with has been very camp acting, and I’ve flown quite a lot for my age! Sort of like how Gok Wan talks, I often hear them talking to other stewards saying things like “Yaarr babes,” and doing floppy hand gestures.

I just wondered if anyone else had noticed this? Is there perhaps a reason behind it? Or is it purely a coincidence that every Virgin Atlantic male steward on my fifteen flights have been this way?

R

I think it's just a coincidence that all male cabin crew you've been served by have been this way. On all of my (too many to count) flights with BA, I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen someone like that.

I would have thought that touching a cabin crew lady there would have been enough to get you arrested?!

As unacceptable as it is for anyone to do that, unfortunately there are people that still think it's acceptable, and unfortunately they may not always get in to trouble for it.

 

[STKKK46]

Certainly a matter of opinion. I do not find camp in anyway funny.

Are you suggesting that coming across as camp is a choice?

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

I’m sure I saw a male flight attendant blow a mock kiss at me on a flight to Fuerteventura! It freaked me out to say the least...

Ha Ha, I was being given a lift in a car by an elderly lady recently, a big lorry stopped / reversed to give way to her on a narrow road and she blew him a kiss too. I did see him smile though.

 

[AlterEgo]

Anyone who thinks that stewardesses are there to have their bottoms pinched are freaky perverts.

Try spending a little time on Flyertalk. There are often comments about cabin crew attractiveness, amounting to a fetish for subservient Asian crew on Asian carriers. It’s a significant minority that carry on like that.

There are some desperately sad blokes on Flyertalk, mostly wealthy, with few social skills and little self-awareness.

 

[DarloRich]

I don't care what gender they are or who they like to have sex with as long as they get me off the plane safely at my destination.

Is the correct answer.

There are some desperately sad blokes on Flyertalk, mostly wealthy, with few social skills and little self-awareness.

Worse than here?

 

[atillathehunn]

Would suggest you can't be a very frequent flier if you've only come across 'camp' male cabin crew.

There's a huge amount of selection bias on the sample of cabin crew. You cannot infer anything from such a sample with such a selection bias.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Is the correct answer.

Though why can we not make observations without it being seen as racist? For example, one might observe that there is a relatively large number of black Caribbean bus drivers in London. And this is true; a number of years ago TfL offered incentives in some countries for people to come to the UK and become bus drivers, which many did, and many of them liked it and were good at it so continue to do so. Why is that kind of observation and discussion considered negative?

Someone who had a problem with a member of cabin crew being gay or a bus driver being black is a racist or homophobe. That is unacceptable. But not a simple observation.

 

[DarloRich]

Though why can we not make observations without it being seen as racist? For example, one might observe that there is a relatively large number of black Caribbean bus drivers in London. And this is true; a number of years ago TfL offered incentives in some countries for people to come to the UK and become bus drivers, which many did, and many of them liked it and were good at it so continue to do so. Why is that kind of observation and discussion considered negative?

Someone who had a problem with a member of cabin crew being gay or a bus driver being black is a racist or homophobe. That is unacceptable. But not a simple observation.

No one has said you cant...................................