As street protests erupt in Iran over the Islamic Republic’s treatment of a woman who was accused of wearing a head covering inappropriately and then died in police custody, in neighboring Pakistan the flag carrier PIA is warning flight attendants that they better wear underwear…
PIA Underwear Memo: Flight Crews Admonished To Dress Appropriately
It’s an interesting time for such an admonition to flight attendants, but I have to imagine it did not just appear out of thin air.
A memo shares that a problem has been observed which requires immediate remedy:
“It has been observed with great concern that a few cabin crew tend to dress casually while traveling intercity, staying in hotels and visiting various suffices. Such dressing leaves a poor impression on the viewer and portrays a negative image of not only the individual but also of the organisation.”
Cabin crew are admonished to “dress properly” and to wear “proper undergarments.” This will be inspected by “grooming officers,” who will conduct ad hoc checks on compliance.
Perhaps something is lost in translation, but I’m not sure what that even means.
Like One Mile At A Time, when I first saw this headline my mind went immediately to a fairly hilarious Pan Am training video that deals with flight attendant professionalism in public settings.
Indeed, flight attendant conduct matters and what I love about airlines like Korean Air or Emirates or Etihad is not so much the glorification of youth or even necessarily the insistence on conformity (though I’ve argued there are upsides to looking uniform), but that flight attendants always appear impeccably groomed, with uniforms that are perfectly fit and pressed. That personifies professionalism to me, even if you are against the rigid hair and makeup requirements.
But I digress…
To some degree we are reading between the lines here and certainly, my link to what is going on in Iran right now is conjecture on my part. I do think what we are seeing in Iran right now—the groundswell of support for Mahsa Amini—is riveting and absolutely exhilarating to everyone who champions freedom.
If Iran changes from within, will Pakistan too? Tough to say, isn’t it?
The goal, of course, is not to champion the jettisoning of underwear. That’s not at all what I am advocating for. But this idea of “dressing properly” in “formal plain clothes” in accordance “with our cultural and national morals” when a flight attendant is at the gym or going out to eat seems a bit much, not matter the cultural context.
CONCLUSION
I’m a bit perplexed by this whole PIA underwear memo and whether something is lost in translation. I do wonder, though, that as we are witnessing nightly spurts of organic resistance to the theocratic government in Iran, might the days of such memos in Pakistan be nearing an end?
(image: @NOMIANSARI / Twitter // H/T: Paddle Your Own Kanoo)
Ohhh how much I miss Hooters Airlines
Just curious – why do you and Ben feel the need to post the exact same stuff? You both have less and less meaningful content and more and more fluff like this. You used to be better – just sayin’.
We like the same topics —— but we are still different people and different blogs. If a topic doesn’t interest you, feel free to skip it.
This is how patriarchal societies suppress women. First they don’t let you show your nipples under your dress and pretty soon you are fighting to get rid of your hijab.
Women in the western countries need to stand up to religious nutjobs by taking their tops and bras and burning them. Free those puppies and support the women in iran and Pakistan by walking topless.
I will support you, with my hands if needed.
Lmao! Just doing your part? That’s awesome!! Lmao
If appears the underwear police want no jiggle no wiggle and garments that can be snapped to prove compliance. And yes this has all happened before. Hopefully these checks will only be conducted at work but the memo isn’t all that specific.
Oh the fun I would have if I were Cabin Crew with PIA. Knowing I maybe pulled aside by a Grooming Officer, to see if I’m wearing my junk drawer? I’ve been I look Really Hot in Red or Purple Panties
Nightly spurts? Well that’s pretty common in most bedrooms. On planes? Well…….
United States for 44 years. I worked both domestic and internationally. Flight attendants in Europe the United States and many other countries cannot be judged the same as flight attendants from the third world countries and religious authoritarian countries. The flight attendants in those countries can afford to pay people who are grossly underpaid to take care of their garments. Singapore Airlines is another good example of that. I was just a working stiff. I’m always told people my caller was blue. I was Labor we certainly weren’t princesses.
Oh my…oh my….simple minds of those whose interpretation of what a woman wears describes her otherwise….women used to wear dresses! Women used to wear hats! Women took pride in their appearance not for men, but to feel good and pretty! Today, men still victimize women and men gawk at these women like vulshers, instead of complimenting these pretty women and getting to really know whether their dress matches their real character!
Men and women are still far distant and it is the 21st century so let’s not judge a book by its cover, open the book, turn the pages and honesty transgresses all else!
Who gives a damn about underwear! A bit more sophistication is required to really get to know one another….
Pakistanis are the Most Confused and Hypocritical People in the World!!!
They are Ashamed of their South Asian Roots and Pretend they are from the “ARAB” Stock!!!
They are even more backwards than the “Taliban” of Afghanistan!!
*fingers crossed* that some BS “grooming officer” attempts to verify underwear compliance by some off-duty female PIA flight attendant and gets instantly throat-punched for his trouble.
What a crock of *%#&. From the Islamic hijab, the Amish kapp, the Haredi sheitel, to Mormon clothing guidelines, it’s all formalized oppression on the whole, irrespective of any positives one may glean from it.
When women who ‘like’ these rules or enforce them are put forth, this doesn’t support the argument…it just means some women would choose this on their own, so leave them to it. When men claim this oppression prevents rape, I laugh heartily. Men don’t need visual cues to be aroused and oppression overall just makes claims of assault less likely to be reported.
Iranian women, burn it all to the ground. The rest of you, follow suit. This oppression since the dawn of time won’t subside any other way. Half measures and talk didn’t end slavery or the holocaust, it sure as heck won’t end this particular, widespread form of assholery.