Air Male: Exploring Flight Attendant Masculinities in North America and Thailand

Jane Ferguson, Arratee Ayuttacorn

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

    Abstract

    Flight attendant work, although now referred to with gender-neutral terminology, continues to be archetypically feminine. Male flight attendants are often assumed to be gay, which frequently includes an emasculated, hyper-sexualised dimension to the stereotyped minority within the female-dominated occupation. The ways in which straight men navigate this occupation and its gendered/hypersexualised connotations problematises both the notions of a gay community as well as flight attendant work as inherently or necessarily feminine. Based on ethnography amongst flight attendants who work for two international airlines, this paper considers how notions of masculinity and heteronormativity operate in a feminised occupational role and how workplace dynamics affect gendered senses of self and relations with others, including with coworkers and in the public.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)328-343
    JournalThe Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology
    Volume20
    Issue number4
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2019

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Air Male: Exploring Flight Attendant Masculinities in North America and Thailand'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this