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Virgin Atlantic is no longer requiring women flight attendants to wear makeup — and, for the first time, they’ll be offered pants as part of their default uniform. In the past, the airline’s standards for women who worked on board were fairly stringent: The airline reportedly has a style guide for flight attendants that includes instructions on what types of makeup they are and aren’t allowed to wear, and women were only provided trousers for their uniforms upon request.
The airline is framing the move as a push toward gender equality in a line of work that remains heavily divided along gender lines: Most pilots are still men and most flight attendants are still women.
“Not only do the new guidelines offer an increased level of comfort, they also provide our team with more choice on how they want to express themselves at work,” Virgin Atlantic executive VP Mark Anderson told CNN in a statement. “Our world-famous red uniform is something all of us at Virgin Atlantic are incredibly proud of. As an airline, we have always stood out from the crowd and done things differently to the rest of the industry. We want our uniform to truly reflect who we are as individuals while maintaining that famous Virgin Atlantic style.”
While the new guidelines allow crew members to opt out of wearing makeup, those who choose to do so will still have to adhere to Virgin’s style guide. The new guidelines also underscore how strictly flight attendants’ appearances are enforced to this day — and the extent to which the aviation industry continues to play into outdated gender stereotypes. It’s worth noting that although flight attendants in general are expected to adhere to rigid gender norms, there is a rich history of queer flight attendants — last year, Virgin offered its first-ever Pride flight to New York City, which was entirely staffed by LGBT employees — but the industry continues to uphold rigid gender norms.
As gender sociologist Lisa Wade has noted, the first flight attendants were men, and early airlines often had bans on hiring women. But the profession quickly became dominated by women, who were expected to play the role of cheerful domestic worker and sexpot to appeal to largely male travelers.
Even today, the overwhelming majority of flight attendants are women, and most airlines, especially those that provide luxury services, still require their cabin crews to adhere to strict dress codes. In a 2018 interview with Town and Country, an Emirates flight attendant revealed that the airline has rules for what colors of nail polish employees are allowed to wear, as well as guidelines for lipstick — which is required — eye makeup, jewelry, and hair styles.
Cosmopolitan compiled a list of different airlines’ requirements, which range from standard things like customer service to more outlandish rules like how much flight attendants can weigh, what range their body mass index should fall into, and how long their nails should be. American Airlines reportedly requires cabin crew members to “cut or otherwise remove” “noticeable hair in nostrils and/in on ears or underarms.” JetBlue employees are allowed to put their hair in ponytails, but they “should be no higher than the tops of the ears and no longer than the tops of the shoulders.” The list goes on and on.
Virgin’s relaxed rules could be a sign of broader change. The airline called the move a “significant change for the aviation industry,” something that would normally sound like brand-speak, but in this case seems to be true.
