Different view
Funnily none of my mates think that flight attendants are rampant sex machines (especially the ones that fly AA a lot! heheh)...
But, the prejudice I found existed (I didn't know about this until 12 months ago or so) was to do more with perceived intelligence ..... A few people (male and female) were gobsmacked when I said I'd made the QF shortlist and why I wanted a job that didn't have any mental stimulation! Why would you want to be a flying waiter etc. I found the level of ignorance of the role of the flight attendant to be extraordinarily widespread. Needless to say, I don't have a lot to do with those bigots anymore (mostly lawyers), but it got me thinking to ask about to see what other people thought....
The general consensus seems to be:
* It seems to be highly sought after job - so therefore very competitive and those who get jobs in cabin crew have to be quite talented.
* A lot don't think they would be able to do it - long hours, time zones, screaming babies, screaming drunks etc
But the main theme seemed to be admiration for flight attendants that even after a 12 -14 hour flight could still give a genuine smile at pax on the way out.
I tend to think the "stereotype" seems to represent whatever the respondent thinks about themselves in that position to be honest (if that makes sense). At the end of the day though, I'd much rather have a flight attendant at my dinner table than a crusty old law partner!