You remember bad experience better. Those articles usually highlight BAD things. Yes, there are burnt out flight attendants! It's not surprising to burn out after doing this job for 30 years, maybe you went through a divorse or you have to put up with other crap. What crap? For example: cutting your salary, your pension and other benefits.
New flight attendants might be disappointed about the job: pay is low and at some companies you have to do only turn-arounds for years.
Good salaries and long lay-overs are gone! Some people just don't know what this job is about. Getting up at 1 a.m is not easy for everyone. No wonder they don't smile if they are pissed off...
Yes, women used to get married before 30. Well, nowadays, women are very emancipated and there are a lot of singles over 30. More and more women get pregnant over 40!!! Times are also long gone when a man alone took care of his family. A lot of people simply cannot do that and women need to or want to go back to work.
The writer didn't even mention another "problem": the language barrier. There are some multinational companies where communication among crew and with passengers might be a problem for some flight attendants! It doesn't mean that the stewardess is stupid: she just doesn't speak proper English. I'm sure you wonder sometimes how she/he got hired...
Whatever this article is about, those times are gone. Especially with all this cost-cutting and the worsening conditions. Everything is about the profit! I'm sure my smile would be brighter if I had 72-hour-rest after a 14-hour flight, not only 24 hours...