On October 26, 1958, a commercial flight changed the history of aviation: it was the first Boeing 707 that flew from New York to Paris, of the Pan Am airline. This event inaugurated a time where traveling by plane was synonymous with a glamorous life, immortalized in scenes like those in the movie Catch Me If You Can, when Leonardo DiCaprio’s character gets out of a limo with six girls on his arm. These perfectly put together airline women became style icons in the 1950s and today they travel hundreds of miles every day, while also holding the responsibility of saving lives in an emergency.
The female role of flight attendant began in the 1930s, when commercial flights in the United States included nurses in the crew to inspire confidence in an emergency. However, a long streak also began in which flight attendants became a marketing tool for aviation, under the completely patriarchal idea that “if a woman can fly, so can you.”
