#1 Welcome onboard: Introduction to our study: the Singapore Girl

1. Introduction

Before the world’s first female flight attendant, Ellen Church, the job of a flight attendant was exclusively male dominated in 1920s (Barry, 2007). However with the arrival of World War II (WWII), men were dispatched to fight in wars, and consequently, the occupation of flight attending was quickly filled up by women. This marked the start of the transition of a move towards a highly gendered job where females were prioritised and privileged in the recruitment process of airlines’ cabin crews.

Today, far fewer male flight attendants are hired compared to females (ibid.). However,  beyond that, another main issue is that the occupation of a flight attendant is closely associated with very specific body types, thus precluding ‘Others’ who do not conform. To investigate this, we selected Singapore International Airlines (SIA) -- a distinctive airline in the aviation space premised on the body of the Singapore Girl for its business model. This blog will take you on a journey to explore the physical body and gender performativity roles of the Singapore Girl, the reasons why SIA has kept its business model so highly feminised and ‘in shape’, before delving deeper into the issues faced, and who is excluded, due to this supposed ‘norm’. Lastly, we  will examine how one can resist such socially and commercially perpetuated normative ideals.

With limited literature published on the specific topic of SIA flight attendants, we had to depend on primary research analyses.Through participant observation, we noted the common observable traits of Singapore Girls navigating the space of Changi Airport. As participant observation does not explain factors like behaviour, attitudes, motives, and explanations, we also conducted an interview with a former Singapore Girl, Miss C, 36 years old, to complement the missing factors. To supplement and support our primary research, we utilized secondary literature as well as online forums to gain a better insight into the aviation industry business model, and netizens’ views respectively.  

----> #2 PREPARE FOR TAKE OFF: DESCRIPTIONS OF AN SIA GIRL


photo credit: http://siacabincrew.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/sia_cabincrew_images.jpg