Friday, February 13, 2009

Hypocrisy, much?


Remember when this lady's hoochie-mama get-up rendered her unfit to board a Southwest Airlines flight? She was told she was dressed too provocatively to fly on the plane. Well, inside it, maybe. Perhaps she could have gotten a seat on the wing?


Or perhaps she shoulda mebbe tried a bikini. Southwest Airlines has shrinkwrapped a 737 in a slightly larger-than-life photo of a comely bikini-clad model.
I dunno. What do you think? Seems a bit hypocritical to me. Even moreso because the Stewardesses on early Southwest flights wore those oober-hep go-go girl outfits, and why not?


h/t to Blowfuzzy von Sassy



addendum:

Okay, in fairness, some good points have been raised in comments here, but I want to expand on this subject. I don't care about the bikini-clad plane - I think there's a toothsome symmetry to something so ultimately phallic as an airplane being festooned with nekkid-chick-ness, and I think the practice of pinup be-decked bombers from wartimes is a marvelous tradition to follow, actually. Also, someone said the woman was considerably more exposed than she has been presented in the above photo and tv appearances. I also really LIKED the air hostess hotpants outfits, though I'd hate to see males or unfit females got up in same, unless we're talking about a gay disco floor or Las Vegas, where such is to be expected. What really bothered me was a matter of corporate inconsistency. If social mores are touted as reason for being conservative at one hand and yet chucked at the other, they were nothing other than political expedients in the first place.

On the third hand, I celebrate the right of any company whether privately or jointly owned to do its business in the way it sees fit from one day to the next.

Frankly, I think there should be open-smoking airlines for people who want to smoke on planes. Frankly, if my pilot is a smoker, I WANT that mofo smoking his or her brains out. Or slap some nicotine patches on them, at the very least. Please, no jonesing in the cockpit.

But now I'm ranting, aren't I?

7 comments:

Mule Breath said...

Texans have gotten quite the chuckle out of all this as we well remember the hotpants clad FA's and the battles waged by feminists over hiring practices. Bimbogate caused much speculation, and this recent episode prompts ironic shrugs.

Liz said...

I have a friend who is an SWA pilot. The "lady" in question had her shirt tucked up under her bra and her skirt was so short her butt was visible and she was wearing a thong and when she reached into the overhead bin the whole cabin saw her entire hind end. Her outfit looked like the pic only after they made her pull her skirt down and unroll her shirt and put on the sweater. Bikini planes are pretty stupid, agreed. But the people who complained about the bimbo were other passengers - it didn't originate with SWA staff.

phlegmfatale said...

Mule Breath - The collective details seemed incongruous to me.

Liz - Fair enough - even as pictured in its more modest form, her outfit reeked of hoochie-mama. Yeah, it was tacky, but it did seem a mixed-message thing, to me.

Anonymous said...

I tell you what, with the state of the economy and the airline industry in particular (okay, yes I work for an airline..lol). I say AA shrink wraps every plane in our fleet, if we can make some advertising dollars off it! And I don't care what the adverts are for, Prep H, Tampax, etc...ha ha.

phlegmfatale said...

steff - Point taken. What rubbed my fur the wrong way was the appearance of corporate inconsistency. Then again, the inappropriate woman did not appear as presented in the photographs, according to some, apparently, and apparently she exposed considerably more flesh. The advertising thing, well, that's an odd one.

OTOH, if you change your principles because of tight times, then then your previous practices were a more a matter of convenience than principle.

Unknown said...

I agree with your point -- even in the gal's more hoochie mama form (than in the pic), it's still what they have on the side of their plane in a bikini.

Just a little snarky said...

While said lady may be inappropriate for a plane ride, what is more gross is a grandma with tattoos. Pass the sickness bag please.