Comments on: “Think of Her as Your Mother”

By: Shannon

Shannon — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 06:36:03 +0000

I see sexy in the “standard attractive female” sort of way. She kind of looks “off work”, which maybe implies a bit of sex.

However, I immediately thought she looked like a tired, over-worked, slouching stewardess that just got off work. ? Sure, sexy. But, sexy in a working woman sort of way – not the usual helpless lady sort of way.
It’s like the “Barbie owns her own business” stuff.

As a long time waitress, I feel bad for the stewardesses who were expected to “baby” an entire flight.

By: md

md — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 23:15:16 +0000

I’m sure I recently saw a Singapore airlines commercial where the stewardess actually pulled up the passengers blanket and “tucked them in”.. all that was missing was the motherly kiss on the cheek…

By: md

md — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 23:06:42 +0000

Just because I happen to be thinking about wills lately, but female executors are called executrix and if the person who wrote the will is female they are the testatrix (not testator).

By: ralston

ralston — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:10:45 +0000

I’m tempted to agree–I don’t see much in the way of “sexy” and “come hither” in the pose. Yes, she is an attractive woman, and I know part of the problem is that many of us guys are conditioned to instantly think “SSSSEEEEXXXX!!!!!” upon viewing a pretty woman, but…honestly, she *does* kinda look like a younger version of my mom. My mom actually sits like this all the time (granted, in a more comfortable chair, and not in her work clothes).

That aside, the text and tone of the advertisement is pretty ridiculous, and kind of amusing. And even kinda cool when you think about it. As weak as it is, they were at least *trying*, you know, in that “we try to go beyond providing mere eye candy for our passengers and give our female employees real actual professional honest-to-god TRAINING!”. Granted, they’re being trained to be your mommies, but still…

By: Eduardo

Eduardo — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 15:21:25 +0000

I wasn’t particularly turned on by this picture; I’d say she’s rather modest in her pose. To me, this is what come-hither looks like:

http://insidecelebrityworld.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-o-matic/cache/c544e_58080EM_FOX_B-GR_04.jpg

By: Sarah

Sarah — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 06:23:33 +0000

I’m not sure that I see the “sexy” in this pose – she’s quite covered, and her body language is completely closed – not satisfied with merely a coy crossed-legs, she has her legs crossed and pulled up to her chest, with a hand firmly holding them there. As for the “come hither” eyes – maybe my interpretation of “come hither” is a little backwards, but those look more like “do you really think you’re going out in this weather without a hat?” to me.

What “sexy” cues am I missing here?

By: Sarah

Sarah — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 06:17:19 +0000

Christina –
That is *super* interesting. I have always found it intriguing that the English language generally lacks gendering of words, with the exception of words that are being used as pronouns (“Actress” to describe a female actor, for instance).

By: Christina

Christina — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 00:26:47 +0000

Actually, the “-ess” ending is not diminutive but one of the few traces of the grammatical gender of Old English in Modern English. If not from OE, the few English nouns that inflect for gender are usually loanwords from non-Germanic languages: for example, in the word “actress” the suffix
-ress derives from Latin -rix via French -rice.

By: Jonas

Jonas — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 23:54:52 +0000

Jane, I think stewardesses and stewards today are their own best protection today. By the time the rubber hits the runway I’m about ready to bail out of the emergency exit to get away. The last time I got “A cool drink. A good dinner” was when I flew British Airways, and even then “A soft pillow and a warm blanket” were as elusive as hen’s teeth.

At any rate, if the poster were recreated for the modern world it would need to include something along the lines of:
“Only the surliest in corrections officers and retired Marine Corps drill sergeants…”

PS – And isn’t it funny how the diminutive “-ess” persists only for fields seen as “non-professional?” You don’t refer to your doctor as “doctress” or a lawyer as “lawyeress.” I suppose this is because English doesn’t have a feminine noun. But it might make for a fun breaching experiment.

By: Jane

Jane — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 23:16:13 +0000

I would also tend to think that this was an admonition against being an asshole to your stewardess. You know, would you want some guy to grope or talk disrespectfully to your mother? But maybe I’m being too hopeful.

By: Rosemary

Rosemary — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 22:17:10 +0000

The first words out of my mouth when I saw the title of this post were “Oh Jesus” and it didn’t disappoint. Yikes, that whole ad just hits on all sorts of -isms.

I do recall one time I got sick on a transatlantic flight and had several stewardesses (and one steward) keep an eye on me, which I was grateful for since I was traveling alone, but this ad is just insulting to pretty much everybody.