Yes and the NAACP denotes colored people (a step up from Negro, remember). Again, from my own admittedly non-scientific poll I have found that 80% like the stewardess term, 10% don't care and only 10% don't like it, OTOH I would say that 50% of those that do like stewardess (or steward) don;t actually like FA that much. I dare you to go ask your "Negro" friends if they like the term and would double dare you to start calling our African American brothers "negros" at random on the street, in the workplace, or anywhere else. My poll consists of having probably talked with 3-400 Stewards and Stewardesses in recent memory about the subject, the owrst that I have gotten have been exactly one bad look, and one brief speech by another who waswearing way too comfortable shoes about it being a sexist term (hwever when I pointed out that Stewards is the male equivalent she basically sputtered to a stop. You go and do the same with "negro" and if you are alive at the end of the day to report back on FT, I believe you will then know the difference.

That is also a favorite of mine. I've been lectured a few times in the Bay Area about how insensitive it is to refer to these peoples as Indian. I usually let the person give me the full speech before countering that many if not most tribes use the term, as do many associations of tribes.

Why aren't they all just called stewards. Period. One can be a steward regardless of gender. Hotels and restaurants employ people of both genders in the position of, and with the job title of steward. Why the airline distinction with stewardess?

"Pardon me, steward. May I have another mai tai, please?" "My name's not Stewart. It's Shirly."

Well, I definitely like Hotesse de l'air & steward better than Personnel navigant commercial ;)

Friendly reminder from a Moderator
 

Keep this discussion civil and on-topic.
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Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

I think most people would have realized that the reference to George Carlin meant that my last comment was intended to be a humorous exaggeration, to make the point. Sorry if that's a sweeping generalization...

The reality is that MANY people are indeed offended or upset when terminology goes so far in trying to be inoffensive that it becomes absurd, and doesn't necessarily even please the individuals to whom it refers. See my original note for two specific real-life examples....

If my job classification went by a name that had developed into a term of denigration, I would want to change it. A police officer might not want to be called a cop if that word was commonly used to put down, diminish, or pigeonhole police officers. Likewise a secretary may prefer administrative assistant if he/she perceives that the old moniker is belittling as used by some (not even most) people. And such usage can change over time - a job title once held in esteem may now be used for derision.

So let them change it to whatever they want. Makes no difference to me. Just so I know what to call them now.

heard on a fligt once...
 

Hey waitress. Can i have another drink?

---------------------------------
Yes, I agree. After all, we're all adults ....and adultresses, aren't we ?

So let them change it to whatever they want. Makes no difference to me. Just so I know what to call them now.[/QUOTE]

The only one wanting to change the term is the OP, not any airline or union. The unions and companies want to keep it simple for the flying folks.

All generalizations are wrong.

Communication is a funny business. And really, that's the whole point of words -- to communicate. English is a living language, so things change over time. A word's meaning can change dramatically over the course of a short amount of time. Not just the definition -- the meaning. And what a word means (communicates) is far more than the definition.

If I may draw an anology -- and not to discuss the politics of the anology -- of the confederate flag. In 1863, it meant something very specific. Today, for many people, it means something else. You can tell them that they're wrong, that the meanings of things never change, that you don't mean to be offensive to them...but that's just not realistic. The meanings of things do change to people. It isn't right; it isn't wrong; it just is.

So the challenge for all of us: are we willing to adapt to what's going on around us? Or are we going to dig in our heels and try to stop the inevitable (change)?

Using words that are knowingly bothersome to others will usually lead others to find you bothersome.

I think it's cute when the people try and make themselves pretend that they're not the gelatenous blob of goo that they are.

waiter = server, medicine man = M.D., pirate = businessman, grifter = lawyer, etc.

for those of us who are of the aristocracy, all the worker drones are a constant source of amusement, eh? ;)

I hope the grand irony in this statement was intentional.

:eek:

ROFLMAO! :D

Thanks for starting my day with a laugh!!!