Why are so many male cabin crew gay?
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It's obvious...
I had a Lufthansa flight attendant and his girlfriend as passengers in my Cessna 404 once. I asked him this obvious question, thinking that it wouldn't offend him since he was not gay, per se.
He replied that gay people were an obvious choice: they usually had no family ties (wife and kids) that made rostering a problem and they combined the physical strength of a man with the caring nature of a woman.
He went on to say that his company had been hit with a serious AIDS problem as many of the gay employees went down with this unforeseen disease. (This conversation took place around 1988; I assume that AIDS is no longer such a serious problem to gay people.)
I think there are a disproportionate number of gays working as flight attendants for the reasons stated. On the other hand, I don't see any problem with this possible fact. Every so often you do get someone 'camping it up' a bit on the PA system but that is about all.
He replied that gay people were an obvious choice: they usually had no family ties (wife and kids) that made rostering a problem and they combined the physical strength of a man with the caring nature of a woman.
He went on to say that his company had been hit with a serious AIDS problem as many of the gay employees went down with this unforeseen disease. (This conversation took place around 1988; I assume that AIDS is no longer such a serious problem to gay people.)
I think there are a disproportionate number of gays working as flight attendants for the reasons stated. On the other hand, I don't see any problem with this possible fact. Every so often you do get someone 'camping it up' a bit on the PA system but that is about all.
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Well, I thought 'gay' was the preferred 'term du jour'. So what do homosexuals wish to be called, informally? It is all the same to me, just so I know what term to use.
We already went through this with so-called 'black' people who didn't want to be known as 'negroes'. So now what?
In fact, I had a mad discussion with a 'black' work colleague about Bianca Jagger, when he told me, very proudly, that she was 'black'. All I could say was that she sure looked 'white' to me but that if it made him happy for her to be officially 'black', okay. Perhaps we are now going to have a tug-of-war over this or that famous person's sexual orientation?
We already went through this with so-called 'black' people who didn't want to be known as 'negroes'. So now what?
In fact, I had a mad discussion with a 'black' work colleague about Bianca Jagger, when he told me, very proudly, that she was 'black'. All I could say was that she sure looked 'white' to me but that if it made him happy for her to be officially 'black', okay. Perhaps we are now going to have a tug-of-war over this or that famous person's sexual orientation?
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One of my fellow gay friends works at an airline and people generally assume he is cabin crew. When they find out he's a Captain, imagine the surprise! Next thing you know there will be Gay air traffic controllers!!!!!
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'Chuks', just to clarify, the word 'gay' obviously is fine on its own, its when we are referred to as a group as 'gays' that is ever so slightly offensive. 'Gay people' or 'gay guys' or whatever is a much better way of putting it. Complicated i know all this gay ettiquete!
Oh and 'TopBunk', how about you crawl back under your rock where you belong? even if u were joking, no need to be an offensive moron...
Oh and 'TopBunk', how about you crawl back under your rock where you belong? even if u were joking, no need to be an offensive moron...
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topbunk seems you know all the words trying to cum out are we, well i love a game of balls (football,rugbyballs,pool balls) must try me sometime. then we will see what sort of man you are.
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You have to be a good taker in the role of an F/A.
Gays get in in the early days to work with women instead of being bashed in mens' jobs, rise to the top eventually, then recruit their gay friends. Simple.
I thought the term was "nudger" or "packer"?????
names like fourplay, bar, dungfunnel, etc.... and they say it's not all about sex.....
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As a straight male ex-cabin crew member I can recall being in a discussion amongst crew as to why so many male cabin crew are homosexual. All sorts of theories were mentioned when one of my homosexual colleagues threw his head back and laughed.
" you're all wrong" he said. " the reason is simply that fairies love to fly!" .
" you're all wrong" he said. " the reason is simply that fairies love to fly!" .
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The term "gay" original was a hi-jacked word from the gay community.
In a pride march in San Fran during the 70's someone had a sign saying "Good As You", people seemed to like this and hi-jacked the word (which meant bright and happy) and started using the word GAY. - just wanted to clear that up!
The other words (homosexual included) focus on the sex bit and dont tend to be liked.
Makes me laugh tho when you get big butch str8 men with "GAP" tops on - do you think they know?!?
KBaB
In a pride march in San Fran during the 70's someone had a sign saying "Good As You", people seemed to like this and hi-jacked the word (which meant bright and happy) and started using the word GAY. - just wanted to clear that up!
The other words (homosexual included) focus on the sex bit and dont tend to be liked.
Makes me laugh tho when you get big butch str8 men with "GAP" tops on - do you think they know?!?
KBaB
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All about sex
QUOTE: Oneball...
names like fourplay, bar, dungfunnel, etc.... and they say it's not all about sex..... UNQUOTE:
Narrr mate its all about sex! who said it wasn't?
Yes all (gays) have it on the mind 24/7.
I changed my name legally to Fourplay Forskin!
Happy New year! to you too
nothing like a bit of gay bashing.
I knew this thread would end in tears when I read the opener...
Anybody got a kleenex?
names like fourplay, bar, dungfunnel, etc.... and they say it's not all about sex..... UNQUOTE:
Narrr mate its all about sex! who said it wasn't?
Yes all (gays) have it on the mind 24/7.
I changed my name legally to Fourplay Forskin!
Happy New year! to you too
nothing like a bit of gay bashing.
I knew this thread would end in tears when I read the opener...
Anybody got a kleenex?
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I'm a straight male ex steward, looking to get into BA soon. Anyway I'm comfortable in my sexuality to say that I do find some men attractive but I could never make love to another man or love another man in the way I do with women, women make me soft and I just love their sensuality, tits and bodies full stop.
Give me angeline jolie over brad pitt anyday, but I wouldn't mind brad's good looks.
Many of mates are gay and I do believe some of them do love the whole trolley bag thing
, you know the walk and all that, thing is no man that can pull it off like a beautiful women, just haven't got the same gorgeous arse i'm afraid us men.
Anyway most gay men are great fun, with good persinalities and excellent communication skills, that make great flight attendents.
gay stewards make the best stewards.
Give me angeline jolie over brad pitt anyday, but I wouldn't mind brad's good looks.
Many of mates are gay and I do believe some of them do love the whole trolley bag thing
, you know the walk and all that, thing is no man that can pull it off like a beautiful women, just haven't got the same gorgeous arse i'm afraid us men. Anyway most gay men are great fun, with good persinalities and excellent communication skills, that make great flight attendents.
gay stewards make the best stewards.
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As a Pilot in Big Airways I was always rather sad when an admin notice went up to communicate the passing away of a fellow Pilot. Sometimes putting a face to the name was rather difficult.
However, I was always impressed with the way the Cabin Crew community handled the same sad event with an admin notice also including a picture of the "dearly departed".
What a shame when this "sensitive" practise of displaying a picture was discontinued (with the arrival of AIDs deaths) as they did not have the space for all the pictures and were concerned that the media would get hold of the numbers involved.
ARGUSMOON had it spot on when he said "that most airline cabin crew interviewers are gay and that they employ other friends of Dorothy`s.."
Exactly what has happened in Big Airways
However, I was always impressed with the way the Cabin Crew community handled the same sad event with an admin notice also including a picture of the "dearly departed".
What a shame when this "sensitive" practise of displaying a picture was discontinued (with the arrival of AIDs deaths) as they did not have the space for all the pictures and were concerned that the media would get hold of the numbers involved.
ARGUSMOON had it spot on when he said "that most airline cabin crew interviewers are gay and that they employ other friends of Dorothy`s.."
Exactly what has happened in Big Airways
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This is an interesting topic, and one that I've seen discussed many times over. Usually on long night flights when through boredom the topic of conversation inevitably ends up being of a sexual nature!
The notion that all male cabin crew are gay is a stereotype that is picked up on and constantly reinforced by the media. This in turn creates a general misconception by the travelling public that we are all 'flying fairies' - as one particularly witty passenger recently branded me!
However, although the above is a huge generalisation, the fact is that for some reason the job does seem to attract a much higher percentage of gay men than the 'average' job.
In my airline I'd make an educated guess that around 75% of our male crew are gay.
The argument that there are a lot of gay male crew because some of the recruitment teams are made up of gay men is invalid.
Men that apply for cabin crew jobs have to be attracted to the job by something in the first place, and I don't believe that this is simply because they think that they will be easily accepted for the job.
It is interesting flying with straight guys, as I've noticed that they tend to fall into two distinct groups.
There are those that are 100% at ease with themselves and their colleagues, who you are quite often unsure of their sexuality unless it happens to come up in conversation. These are the guys that are great to work with, team players, who can simply see no difference whatsoever between heterosexual and homosexual relationships. As long as everyone is happy.
Then you get the guys who although don't seem to have a problem with gay people, still feel the need to reiterate to everybody at every possible opportunity, that they are straight.
These are the guys who seem to have a problem with sexuality that nobody else does, and as such constantly 'ram it down your throat' - (please excuse the term!) that they are straight.
A guy who has been flying for my airline for a long time now, who distinctly fell into the 2nd category, has just come out as gay! Say no more...
But to answer the original question...
I think it comes down to many reasons. Gay guys in general often have qualities that straight guys don't (and vice versa I'm sure!).
For example, gay men are more likely than straight to be able to respond / empathise with peoples needs, remain calm in stressful situations, take abuse / complaints from people, and generally live the cabin crew lifestyle (Away from home often, and paid peanuts for it!). In addition, gay guys get along with women far better than straight guys do.
All of the above is generalisations, and as everyone is different the question will never be answered properly.
In this day in age sexuality is really not an issue at all for the majority of people. It seems that the only people left in our society nowadays who still have issues with sexuality are the old, the ill educated, the complete screaming gay queens (who do the rest of us no favours at all!) and those with some kind of confusion over their own sexuality. (Oh... and the occasional pilot... most of whom fit into at least one of the above!!)
The notion that all male cabin crew are gay is a stereotype that is picked up on and constantly reinforced by the media. This in turn creates a general misconception by the travelling public that we are all 'flying fairies' - as one particularly witty passenger recently branded me!
However, although the above is a huge generalisation, the fact is that for some reason the job does seem to attract a much higher percentage of gay men than the 'average' job.
In my airline I'd make an educated guess that around 75% of our male crew are gay.
The argument that there are a lot of gay male crew because some of the recruitment teams are made up of gay men is invalid.
Men that apply for cabin crew jobs have to be attracted to the job by something in the first place, and I don't believe that this is simply because they think that they will be easily accepted for the job.
It is interesting flying with straight guys, as I've noticed that they tend to fall into two distinct groups.
There are those that are 100% at ease with themselves and their colleagues, who you are quite often unsure of their sexuality unless it happens to come up in conversation. These are the guys that are great to work with, team players, who can simply see no difference whatsoever between heterosexual and homosexual relationships. As long as everyone is happy.
Then you get the guys who although don't seem to have a problem with gay people, still feel the need to reiterate to everybody at every possible opportunity, that they are straight.
These are the guys who seem to have a problem with sexuality that nobody else does, and as such constantly 'ram it down your throat' - (please excuse the term!) that they are straight.
A guy who has been flying for my airline for a long time now, who distinctly fell into the 2nd category, has just come out as gay! Say no more...
But to answer the original question...
I think it comes down to many reasons. Gay guys in general often have qualities that straight guys don't (and vice versa I'm sure!).
For example, gay men are more likely than straight to be able to respond / empathise with peoples needs, remain calm in stressful situations, take abuse / complaints from people, and generally live the cabin crew lifestyle (Away from home often, and paid peanuts for it!). In addition, gay guys get along with women far better than straight guys do.
All of the above is generalisations, and as everyone is different the question will never be answered properly.
In this day in age sexuality is really not an issue at all for the majority of people. It seems that the only people left in our society nowadays who still have issues with sexuality are the old, the ill educated, the complete screaming gay queens (who do the rest of us no favours at all!) and those with some kind of confusion over their own sexuality. (Oh... and the occasional pilot... most of whom fit into at least one of the above!!)
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gay recruiters are unlikely to favour gay men. they are men after all and the challenge of turning or outing the allleged gay in all of us would surely be better served if they hired straight guys. the promiscuity amongst the gay community is well known so wheres the fun in that. Better a virgin arthur than an easy martha.
happy hunting
happy hunting
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Recruiting
In 95 and 96 I spent about six months recruiting cabin crew.After about a month I realised I had interviewed mainly women and gay men.Finally after an interview with a heterosexual male who spoke several languages I asked,off the record, if he had any mates who spoke other languages and why they hadn`t applied.His response.....They thought that the term "flight attendant"referred to females only.Most still thought that males were "flight stewards".Before I get criticized,I have gay brothers and I feel I can identify gay men fairly readily.
By the way I was the only heterosexual male interviewer.
By the way I was the only heterosexual male interviewer.
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Hi - Sorry, I just don't get some of this, would appreciate your thoughts on:
1) Since when was Customer service "gay" or straight"?
2) The not so obvious difference between "gay" and "gays" (if it's not too offensive to print!)
3) it's one of the few job areas I know of that you find a high percentage of gay males - is that one of the attractions in the first place?
4)What happened to the pink pound? The job is low paid, and hardly finances a great lifestyle. And as some of the reasons for it, "fun,exotic,interesting and mysterious lifestyle" hardly mixes with short sectors on the vast majority of the bread and butter stuff?
and last but not least:
I KNOW you don't all do it, but what does mincing around with a vengeance on an aircraft have to do with customer service?
I quote: "These are the guys who seem to have a problem with sexuality that nobody else does, and as such constantly 'ram it down your throat' - (please excuse the term!) that they are straight."
Imvho, most passengers genuinely couldn't care less about your sexuality (including me), but in this case, who's the pot and who's the kettle? The very big difference on an aircraft is that you're working and I'm not - I never flaunt my sexuality in work, and if I did, could reasonably expect I'd end up in the labour court for doing so if I kept it up. I don't want to go on about it, it's simply an issue of professionalism - but I get the impression, right or wrong, that sometimes it's done as an in your face to the heteros, as you know it makes some of them uncomfortable.
Again, I emphasise I'm not trying to start a fight or cause offense, but I'd rather be an educated hetero than a completely ignorant one, and am genuinely interested in the answers.
1) Since when was Customer service "gay" or straight"?
2) The not so obvious difference between "gay" and "gays" (if it's not too offensive to print!)
3) it's one of the few job areas I know of that you find a high percentage of gay males - is that one of the attractions in the first place?
4)What happened to the pink pound? The job is low paid, and hardly finances a great lifestyle. And as some of the reasons for it, "fun,exotic,interesting and mysterious lifestyle" hardly mixes with short sectors on the vast majority of the bread and butter stuff?
and last but not least:
I KNOW you don't all do it, but what does mincing around with a vengeance on an aircraft have to do with customer service?
I quote: "These are the guys who seem to have a problem with sexuality that nobody else does, and as such constantly 'ram it down your throat' - (please excuse the term!) that they are straight."
Imvho, most passengers genuinely couldn't care less about your sexuality (including me), but in this case, who's the pot and who's the kettle? The very big difference on an aircraft is that you're working and I'm not - I never flaunt my sexuality in work, and if I did, could reasonably expect I'd end up in the labour court for doing so if I kept it up. I don't want to go on about it, it's simply an issue of professionalism - but I get the impression, right or wrong, that sometimes it's done as an in your face to the heteros, as you know it makes some of them uncomfortable.
Again, I emphasise I'm not trying to start a fight or cause offense, but I'd rather be an educated hetero than a completely ignorant one, and am genuinely interested in the answers.