Comments on: Sexy Professions for Women: Do the Stereotypes Damage the Brand?

By: SB

SB — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 02:35:00 +0000

BN–

Thanks for the knowledge…and glad to find your blog.

By: B. N. Sullivan

B. N. Sullivan — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 00:57:00 +0000

Very interesting article -- and it's also interesting that all of the comments (so far) have addressed only one of the occupations you cited.

Flight attendants will be the first to tell you that their primary role aboard an aircraft is safety; their secondary role is service.

The FAA (and similar regulatory agencies outside the U.S.) requires commercial air carriers to have a certain number of flight attendants aboard each flight for safety reasons. Their number one, legally mandated role is to attend to the safety and well-being of passengers, up to and including (god forbid) efficiently evacuating passengers from the plane in the case of an emergency landing/accident.

In the U.S., the FAA currently requires one flight attendant for every 50 passenger seats on a plane. (50 seats = 1 F/A; 50-100 seats = 2 F/As, and so on.) Airlines are free to add additional cabin crew beyond the minimum if they wish.

For the record, the now defunct Hooters Air had aboard each flight the required number of real flight attendants, who were fully trained in all safety procedures. In addition, each flight had a few "Hooters Girls" who were not flight attendants. They were there solely to entertain the passengers. The Hooters Girls had no safety function.

By: Make the logo bigger

Make the logo bigger — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 22:32:00 +0000

"Of course, if you wanted to change things, you could have have committed to only flying on Hooters Air."

The only airline where turbulence was a value-add.

By: SB

SB — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 11:07:00 +0000

Ann: Sounds like a new formula for the Village People. Where do I apply?

By: Ann Handley

Ann Handley — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 10:57:00 +0000

Interesting and entertaining post, Scott! I would suspect that the same sort of stereotyping “branding” would hold true for fantasy-inducing men’s professions…? You know — like lumberjacks, construction workers, sailors, and strategic PR consultants? : )