Yesterday, I wrote about the man who flew business class and left his wife and kids in the rear of the plane. He said it was to work. Today, I want to discuss the woman who flies in business class and leaves her husband and kids in the rear of the plane. She claims it in support of feminism.
No, You’re Not A Feminist Hero For Flying Business Class
In a story for Insider entitled, “I’m a mom who flies in business class while my family stays in economy. We see it as a lesson on feminism, Kathleen Porter Kristiansen writes about her recent flight. Kristiansen is a former writer for The Points Guy who now authors her own website.
Recent viral…articles have sparked debates about the fairness of fathers sitting solo in Business or First Class while their wives and children remain in Economy. Being inherently contrarian, I decided our family would flip the script and do just the reverse on a recent 12-hour flight from London to Mauritius.
Being inherently contrarian is nothing to be proud of, but let’s continue:
It wasn’t about embracing luxury for the sake of it. Instead, it was about my boys witnessing their mom confidently relishing a different space on the plane, thereby understanding that traditional norms and expectations should not confine a woman’s place.
Oh honey, it was all about you embracing luxury. I fly all over the world in business class and the notion that a “woman’s place” is economy class is foolish. International business class is no longer a den of white males…
She also calls her choice to fly business class a “testament to my adeptness in navigating the intricate world of travel rewards.”
Good for you. Let’s all give her a pat on the back.
“The perplexed looks I received as I settled into my business class seat sans family didn’t faze me.”
Perlexped looks? Yeah right. Another middle-class American woman in business class does not create confusion in 2023…
In Economy Class, my husband was parenting, further debunking the outdated notion that men merely “babysit” their children. We try to instill in our sons that comfort and luxury are not exclusive to men and that they should not take such privileges for granted.
What a logical fallacy. Who says that fathers just babysit their children? Who says that comfort and luxury are exclusive to men? What rock does she live under?
I’m hardly a modern Susan B. Anthony…
No, you’re not.
…but it’s moments like these that I hope will mold my sons into men who not only comprehend the concept of equality but also incorporate it into their lives.
By you ditching the family in business class.
What a laugh.
This sort of tomfoolery is laughable. Here you have a woman trying to justify her leaving her family behind in business class on the basis of gender equality. Such rubbish!
As View From The Wing points out, “If this woman wants to take her critical theory seriously, then she has to answer for perpetuating inequality not just across society but even within her own family. She’s reinforcing class divides even as she thinks she’s breaking down gender ones!”
And that leads me to call her a traitor to the cause.
* * *
But I want to contrast Ms. Kristiansen with a dear family I worked with for many years at Award Expert. The conservative Jewish couple had seven children: four girls and three boys. The father was a doctor and worked his butt off to provide for his family financially. The mother was a stay-at-home mom who was a Proverbs 31 wife in every sense, industrious and loving; passionate and hard-working. She carefully managed credit cards and sign-up bonuses, allowing for the family to travel the world.
Despite also working from dawn till dusk, the humble father recognized the tremendous and indispensable value of his wife’s labor and supported her one wish when she traveled: she sits up front.
Getting nine business class seats for international travel was not going to happen. I suppose he could have sat upfront with his wife and ditched the kids in the back, but he did not. He stayed with the kids in the back while his wife, who spent most days with their kids, rode upfront. It was a well-earned break for her.
It wasn’t for feminism. It wasn’t to make a political point. It was an act of love. And I love that family and remain so impressed by what they have accomplished together.
CONCLUSION
I’m not impressed by a “feminist” wanting to “stick it to the system” by flying business class and leaving her husband and children in the back. She’s not fooling anyone: this is not about showing her kids that women can fly business class, but a chance for her to relax on a flight (which I can’t blame her for). I do fault her disingenuousness, though.
I can’t believe people still think like this—
“Being inherently contrarian…”
Oh.
Versus who? The imaginary voices in her head? What a goofball
I can’t imagine being the man that married that loon. How crazy must he be to put up with that kind of buffoonery?
Who knows, maybe she pays for dinner all the time, opens doors for her husband, and just being an all around gentleman to “flip the script.”
…Doubt it.
Or, he has 0 confidence and thinks she was the best he was going to do. Definitely a weird person and likely relationship.
This is largely the people you support. This is honestly no different than the disingenuous “0.70 on the dollar” lie that keeps getting perpetuated. That being said, you can easily be accused of sexism here by these people for using the term “honey”. That’s the problem. Stop treating these people seriously and relegate them to the fringes they belong. Hell, most “men” would be glad for the privilege of flying business class to any locale. That being said, good on you for finally calling them out for this. Just be prepared for the “misogynistic” about to come flying your way. Honestly, this was probably just clickbait for her rabid, low functioning audience that reads the “Insider”, still.
Ummm is she really trying to claim that she got “perplexed looks” as a woman sitting in business class? Is this the first time she’s seen a business/first cabin? Shame on Insider for publishing this pile of garbage… at least the one yesterday was just someone’s social media story.
It’s insider. The online version of a tabloid anymore. Seems “on brand”, imo.
Oh don’t worry, Insider’s “journalists” have settled their strike and are coming back to work, commanding a pay floor of $65k a year in NYC and promises of no more lay offs for the rest of 2023. Never fear, they will be back to an endless supply of such worthy articles like “I took Amtrak to California and it took 3 days!”
Lol. I greatly look forward to it. Such hard hitting reporting, it’s amazing we ever did without.
Total burn, Matthew. Bill Maher would be proud of you!
She must think she is the Rosa Parks of feminism. I really want to call her a very bad four letter word I’ve only used a few times in my life. Ugh
I used to redeem miles sparingly. Economy class long haul means many award trips. Business class only rarely.
No need for that anymore on Delta. Need about 400,000 miles for Economy class.
Excellent takedown of a straight up fraudulent article. Keep an eye on this lady. Seems to me she’s gunning to become the Jussie Smollett of feminism.
“Kristiansen is a former writer for The Points Guy ..” I stopped reading at that point.
Can I get an ELI5 on why TPG is so reviled in this community lol? I don’t get it
@Ian: try reading TPG for 30 seconds and if you don’t throw up you get a prize.
lmao. Maybe I’m just not digging past the surface level.
You said it! She’d earn more respect citing a laundry list of felonies she’s committed than by listing them as a past employer.
Haha, yeah, I was gonna say let me have some of what she’s smoking… then I realized that’s probably more true than I thought.
I once had the misfortune of sitting across from a certain Grifting TPG “journalist” on an inaugural flight and he was so obnoxious it ruined the experience for me. I would have said something nasty, but the airline-types around were so far up his behind I figured it’d get me banned for life from the carrier.
I feel like posting this is just serving up red meat to the commenters here that hate women because they can’t get a date.
It’s better that this is ignored
Have you ever considered that comments are about people’s actions and not about themselves? It is not about a man, woman, gay, lesbian, black, white, red, blue, etc… It is about their actions. In this case, it happens to be a woman. Yesterday, it happened to be a man. Both cases are about their decisions and actions, not about themselves. Grow up and leave your basement. Oh, put your mask because there is smoke from Canada out there.
Shhhh, you will break his brain trying to use logic and reason.
Yea and both stories have the same commenters going on about how crazy the woman is and comparing her to amber heard. Thanks for proving my point
How do you know she is a woman? She may feel like a rabbit today. LOL!!! You lunatics are so funny.
Good one. Who’s even thinking about that other than you?
@Bob…. ORLY, you were saying….
https://www.lgbtqia.wiki/wiki/Bunnygender
OK but what does that have to do with this article or discussion?
Wow, really Bob? Seriously? You *CLAIMED* that nobody other than Santastico was “thinking about that”. When clearly there is a whole page dedicated to this specific issue. Good grief it has to be hard being you.
Your comment for reference:
“Who’s even thinking about that other than you?”
I meant nobody here is thinking about it. I’m sure someone is thinking about sasquatch somewhere right now too but it’s not relevant to this topic in any way either
You were foaming at the mouth and beating your dick when the red meat was about a black woman shutting down a racist white man for being a pig. Everyone here knows you’re a little bit retarded but at least don’t be too obvious about it.
Looks like I hit a nerve
Damn Jan. I’m pretty sure you just hit a grand slam with that one.
Hehe
Yea. Calling me a retard. You are so clever
Billy bob is an incel
No bud, I have a family. When’s the last time a woman touched you without saying “excuse me, sir”?
I have this joke/game with my girlfriend that if I’m on a plane with a very large amount of white male travelers in the domestic first cabin, I’ll text her the number (ie. 15/16). Admittedly I’m in the group of 15 there, and it probably happens more than it should, but the reason it is funny is because it is so absurd. Not seeing women in a premium cabin just seems wrong.
I don’t like the guy from the other article, not because he sat up front but because he sat up front and drank whisky and chatted up his seatmate instead of doing work, which was his alleged reason for doing so which seems like a breach of trust to his wife. To me it sounded like he and his wife have issues beyond this so while cringe worthy, it’s not surprising I guess. It was also a secondhand story from an unverified source who is a social media pseudo-star (idk what that even means honestly).
In this case I think I can say it is completely different- this is from the horse’s mouth, this was this woman and her husband’s decision to show their kids that women deserve equal time up front, no confrontation, no fuss. I think the people up in arms about this are a) weird for being so upset about something like this and b) crazy if they think it is “common” to see solo women in business class.
I travel all the time up front for work and not only have I seen personally how few of us there are, but I’ve also had conversations with other solo women travelers who have lamented how few of us there are and how we are more often than anyone else approached by a gate agent stating “we are only boarding X premier level and first/business class ma’am” because we can’t possibly be riding up front or have X status. I don’t take offense to it because it’s true- there are fewer of us.
Now, women with their families or spouses, sure, but to say unequivocally that this (solo women up front) isn’t still a rare thing is ridiculously out of touch with looking at any business/first class of a plane. And to get so upset bc someone was trying to show their kids that women and men (mom and dad in this case) can trade off these front seat privileges is a non-issue to me. Hopefully her kids are more well-adjusted than the people commenting here.
You know what is an act of feminism? Scoring business class seats for every family member.
We are family of 3 and either all of us fly in business or none of us do. (Most of the time we do get the seats and are in business.) When I get an upgrade, I give it to my wife. That’s it.
Discuss the issue, not the people. Come on now.
Sorry Matthew, that’s not the American way. If we don’t speak hatefully about individuals who aren’t in our tribe, then how are we going to get likes from our echo chambers on Facebook and Instagram? Discussing the issues is so 1955.
Yes, in 1955 they were so much further progressed and less “Tribalistic” with all those “white male” only areas. Com’on.
I think you totally missed the point.
Nope. People have nostalgia for days gone by that didn’t exist. People complain about “two incomes to survive” now when it doesn’t take anywhere near two incomes to “survive”. People in the first world countries are just spoiled. Minimum wage in the US is approximately the top 10% globally. So, sure. Life might be hard at the “bottom”, but I damn sure know a bunch of people in africa/asia would love to switch places. People today refuse to look outside of their little bubble to realize how good they have it comparatively, even with regards to 1955. Also, go back and read press clippings from 1955, and you will realize people then were just as “tribalistic” as they are now. Heck, go back and look at some of the issues published in 1907, or the 1800’s. You would be surprised what you learn about history when you do so. Do you think the “red scare” was less tribalistic? Do you think the internment of the Japanese was less tribalistic? God no. It’s just *different* issues now vs before.
You allowed this comments section to become what it is. A bit late now to expect anything less…
I agree with your thesis Matthew, but I completely disagree that international business class isn’t white male dominated. It absolutely is, and very obviously disproportionately so in my experience. Even when I fly business class within India or China, it’s white male dominated.
This doesn’t change your point (for me at least), but it does highlight that there is still a fundamental societal issue that we haven’t got past (and I’m not sure we will, because there’s no group in the world that has ever been willing to give up privilege once they have it)
What is the “issue” we haven’t gotten past? Is it possible that more men prefer (choose) to travel than women? Not everything is some puzzle to “solve”. Nobody reasonable bats an eye when they see a women or _insert group here_ in business class, etc. This isn’t a lack of “fairness”, or whatever the term may be. It’s different choices we make. My fiancée works from home for a fortune 50 company. She never travels. I consult and I am gone m-f, but significant parts of my job can’t be done remotely. That’s not inequality, as it’s spun. It’s a preference for different types of work and lifestyles.
Your case is not an issue as you describe it, agreed. But if you truly believe that the current state, the absence of female executives and travelers in anything like a proportionate proportion, is simply a matter of unimpeded choice, then I posit that you’re not seeing reality.
I travelled business class multiple times and I rarely see women alone there. What I see sometimes is women/children accompanying husbands. After discussing with others and reading some books around the subject, it is clear to me that many (if not most) women DONT WANT to be there. They enjoy doing home and kids duties. I noticed that women that have kids leave work much earlier than they used to before, which is a choice nowadays. Sad but true, I won’t be “fighting for women” any more.
Well, she used to work for TPG, that says it all.
Completely agree , when I saw that story I thought the same about the woman
I completely agree with you Matthew. 100%.
Her entire article is total, utter complete nonsensical drivel. Perhaps someone should ask her why her boys at age 5 and 7 have already formed the opinion that premium cabin travel is only for men. Who taught them that? Their travel blogger mom?
If you click the link you’ll see a picture of her, and she looks exactly like you’d expect.
Matthew,
One of your best ever. I’m looking forward to the day you branch out from travel blogging into mainstream writing. You’re good enough.
THIS!
It’s one thing when your the only one flying. But when your on a family trip you keep the family together.
Upgrade everyone or stay in coach with your family.