Air crafting

Abstract

This article explores the body politics of Thai female flight attendants, starting with the ways in which corporate mandates, training, and management seek to shape a standardized model of Thai female beauty. Workers are expected to comply with these mandates and some go to great lengths to conform. On the other hand, there are bodily practices which are outside the realm of these mandates which flight attendants also engage in, as they are not entirely complicit with management’s directives. Ultimately, the body politics of Thai female flight attendants lies at the nexus between corporate image, national ideology, and notions of gendered labour.

Keywords

Body politics feminized labour flight attendants gender studies Thailand

Supervisors should understand that no one wants to be ugly. We love to be beautiful women, and we normally don’t act against the rules.¹

The Thai woman flight attendant occupies many roles for the airline: she is both a worker and an icon. Her image is crafted by ideology and advertising while her physical body is trained and disciplined by corporate management practices. This article places its emphasis on the bodily practices of female flight attendants. It shows how their bodies are shaped and standardized through the application of company rules and regulations. It also focuses on how female flight attendants’ narratives concerning subjectivity are influenced by disciplinary rules. As this research will demonstrate, female flight attendants are not totally submissive to the regulations the company imposes on them; these women still use their bodies to negotiate and resist certain policies they deem to be unfair.

Following the concept of “body politics” from earlier work,² this study demonstrates the operation of multiple forms of power that shape flight attendants’ bodies. I reveal that female flight attendants’ bodies are not docile, reliable instruments of organizational discourse and national ideologies, but rather, they are produced, reproduced, and modified to compete with dominant forces.

This article is structured in three parts. Firstly, it examines how multiple forms of power operate to shape female flight attendants’ bodies. This section also shows the paradox of organizational discourse and the body: on one hand, flight attendants’ bodies are disciplined by those rules and regulations; on the other hand, these women make use of their bodies for their own purposes. Secondly, I describe the forms of self-regulation that female flight attendants deploy to produce and reproduce collective identities through various forms of bodily practices. Even though flight attendants’ bodies are shaped and disciplined by organizational discourse, there are some ways in which they are able to manipulate their representations of femininity and Thainess for their own benefit. Flight attendants’ crafting of their professional selves is deeply enmeshed in their own social values and attitudes that give them tools to survive within their respective social milieu. Finally, this article will illustrate that female flight attendants are not always passive victims but they also seek to actively negotiate and relocate dominant forces through their own body politics. The flight attendants’ contestation of the Body Mass Index (BMI) policy is one example of this process, and for some, signifies a resistance to sexual objectification.

Body, work, commodity

With the rise of industrial capitalism and consumer culture, increasing attention has been devoted to how institutions and cultural discourses shape women’s experiences. Some studies have emphasized industrial discipline and the different forms of knowledge and power which are placed on women bodies, thus making the bodies crucial sites of political, economic, and cultural transformation.³ Other research has focused on women’s embodied experience, including beauty practices such as fashion,⁴ dieting,⁵ and cosmetic surgery.⁶ These forces of late capitalism on women’s bodies have not been total; there are also sites and possibilities for resistance.⁷ They show how various political interests have attempted to reduce women’s social power, and demonstrate the dynamic practice of resistance, which allows women control of their bodies and to contest power. Even though women are recognized as less powerful in a patriarchal political economy, women can still seek to create and occupy alternative spaces through the relocation of dominant forces that have oppressed and exploited their bodies.⁸

Female flight attendants not only produce physical and emotional labour power, they are also drawn into capitalist circulation for consumption and production. In Thailand, images of beautiful female flight attendants frequently circulate in advertising and popular media in general. Through media representation, the flight attendant’s body, as an icon, frames consumer expectation that passengers will see young, beautiful Asian women in the cabin. Because of this, flight attendants are expected to maintain their bodies not just to carry out the physical labour of serving passengers and being prepared for emergency situations, but also to conform to the icon they represent. Therefore, the corporation seeks to benefit from both the physical labour of the flight attendants in performing the job, as well as their body work to present themselves as the beautiful icons that consumers have come to expect. Hence, capital makes use of the body as an icon, and in addition, it mobilizes the desire for a beautiful body, a crucial tool in the further accumulation of capital. Bio-politics is an essential element to extract surplus value in capitalism; it aims to insert woman’s life into processes of accumulation. Various studies have demonstrated that the cultural landscape of late modernity has affected the body and theories of it.⁹ The material body has also emerged as a cultural metaphor for control.¹⁰ Postmodern scholars take the body as a site for exploring the construction of subjectivities or the workings of disciplinary power.¹¹

Numerous research works on US airlines have examined how female flight attendants not only perform gender, race, and culture at work but also have served as emblems of white, middle-class femininity.¹² This article will illustrate how Thai nationalist discourses have sought to present women as beautiful, civilized, and respectable; in airline iconography, female flight attendants represent the ideal of middle-class, educated, and polite Thai women.

Research on international airlines – such as Pan American Airlines and Thai Airways – shows how airlines racialize women’s bodies. In her work on the role of Pan Am in shaping the lives of Japanese American female flight attendants, Yano shows how national aspirations of empire have racialized these women’s bodies.¹³ Pan Am exoticized the images of geisha girls as a marketing strategy to improve its prestige, and to extend its command of international airspace. Here, women’s bodies are the sites of affect and labour that corporate the power of empire. However, although flight attendants might appear to comply with constraining organizational policies and discourse, in private space they can sometimes resist these impositions and mandates.¹⁴

Even though the work of Yano investigates Japanese flight attendants, her study was conducted on Pan American Airlines. Few studies have explored these issues in relation to Asian carriers. This article, however, touches on how nationalist ideology has shaped Thai women’s bodies, and how nationalism is consolidated through the affect that circulates between flight attendants’ bodies since the women are often used as the public embodiment of Thai culture, and the state has made use of women’s bodies in different ways over the years.

It can be illustrated that flight attendants’ bodies are not only disciplined by organizational rules and culture but also by Thai nationalist ideology. The Thai nation-state has long manipulated certain images of history, society, and people, e.g. through the school system. The state sends moralistic messages through institutions; people are advised on how to be in the world, how to become good citizens.¹⁵ It deliberately invents rituals that seek to manipulate body politics as a way to garner nationalist sentiments.¹⁶ Certain ideas of an achieved state of progress refer to refined manners and etiquette. The concept of siwilai, or a Thai appropriation of civilized modernity, has been adopted into normative discourse and codes of conduct, in conjunction with the essence of being Thai, or Thainess (khwam-pen thai).¹⁷

Such ideological stances were illustrated in 1942 by the policies of Prime Minister Phibun Songkhram, when he imposed concepts of nationalism and leadership in an attempt to establish new hegemonic relations and erode the traditional hegemony of the monarchy. Phibun aimed to construct a new culture and sense of nationalism through the use of art, literature, customs, minds, and women. “Thainess”¹⁸ was increasingly concerned with women’s bodies in terms of their dress, appearance, and behaviour. When in public, women were expected to wear a hat, stockings, and a phasin (skirt). They were to stop wearing chongkraben (draped, untailored pants).¹⁹

Ideologies of Thainess acquire power and salience through political and cultural practices. Thainess can be conflated with modernity and it is oriented towards representing itself in the international arena. Feminine beauty has come to represent Thai modernity. Embodied with a collective heritage,²⁰ female flight attendants can become the bearers of a conservative national pride in order to promote a specific version of Thai culture for the tourist trade. Proficiency in international symbolic codes allows Thai Airways flight attendants to be ambassadors of Thainess.²¹

Crafting selves with organizational rules and culture

In this section, I investigate the relationship between female flight attendants’ bodies and organizational rules and culture, and describe how those forces operate and shape women’s bodies. It is crucial to explore how female flight attendants construct their identities through bodily experiences that are imposed by dominant discourses, especially those imposed on them by their employers and supervisors.

Newly hired flight attendants are trained at the airline’s school before they start flying. The well-trained person needs to demonstrate her personality by graceful comportment. The school is expected to make them perform elegantly and be in control of their physical selves. During their two-month training course, newly hired female flight attendants learn the company rules and regulations from manuals and handbooks. These include passenger service manuals, in-flight service operations manuals, safety and emergency manuals, traffic programme information, and other circulars related to service activities. In training, they study in-flight service procedures and practices, and learn how to serve passengers in a mock aircraft where instructors imitate real-life situations that could occur. Through these mock situations, they learn how to resolve the kinds of problems that occur during flights. They also memorize scripts to recite for commonly occurring situations, such as dealing with drunk or unruly passengers, or how to apologize or negotiate with passengers when a passenger’s meal preference is not available or when equipment malfunctions.

As well as acquiring new knowledge, flight attendants have to alter their appearance and personality in accordance with company requirements. Female flight attendants learn to use make-up, and to style their hair and manicure their nails. The goal of training is to mould flight attendants into gentle and graceful women. Therefore, at training school, there is also a standard socialization process. At training, most of the new flight attendants do not have experience or knowledge of airline work and so they are more likely to absorb the instructions without contestation. They are told how to act and speak with passengers in a consistent manner. They practice various service procedures and attempt to become familiar with their colleagues. However, the training course alone is not enough for them to perform their duties effectively; they will also need to learn from flight experience. When flight attendants cannot resolve a problem themselves, they are trained to consult a senior attendant or purser.

After flight attendants finish the training course, they have to perform and behave in accordance with company rules and regulations. According to the passenger service manuals, flight attendants should be neat and well-groomed and should perform their assignments in a proper manner. When cabin crew members are wearing the company uniform, they should not gamble, quarrel/fight, consume alcohol, or take drugs. They are allowed to wear the company uniform only when travelling to and from the workplace – they should not do so in an inappropriate place – and they should avoid reproachable behaviour that will have a negative effect on the company’s image.²² Therefore, flight attendants cannot travel by bus, eat street food, or go shopping while they are in the uniform. Moreover, they also have to be well-groomed and courteous when travelling on a staff ticket and not wearing a uniform.

When female flight attendants have to appear in public, it is mandated that they should have a healthy complexion. Their faces should be free of acne or dermatitis. The colour and style of their make-up must be compatible with their professional appearance. The lipstick they use must be the appropriate shade of red, orange, or pink. They must always wear nail polish when in uniform, and can wear only one pair of small plain earrings, and two plain rings on their fingers, without large, flashy gems. Bracelets and ankle bracelets are prohibited.²³

Furthermore, flight attendants are asked to be loyal and to protect the interests of the company in all respects. Cabin crew cannot conduct any personal business during working hours, or participate in any partnerships which may result in a conflict of interest which could damage the company. They should avoid general misconduct, breaking the law, and acting immorally. Penalties will be handed out to those who do not follow the rules, ranging from a reprimand or employment suspension, to a salary deduction or even dismissal.²⁴

As can be seen, flight attendants’ bodies are disciplined by company rules and regulations; they are crafted to respond to the expectations of the company, from the neatness of their hairstyle, to the colour of their cosmetics and accessories, their body weight, and their performance in the cabin.²⁵

Since flight attendants’ bodies are shaped by the same rules within the organization, they are expected to look very similar. In addition to the uniform and make-up, the staff must have similar hairstyles. The recruitment procedure also tends to select people whose face and phenotype conform to a Thai or Sino-Thai ideal type.

Even though the company rules and regulations regarding the uniform are very strict, female flight attendants generally agree to follow them. They accept the fact that the rules are necessary to control the mass of flight attendants, even though many consider the rules to be somewhat outdated. Manee commented on this as follows:

I have to maintain the image of a flight attendant, meaning I have to be well-groomed. At first, I didn’t even know how to colour my nails, and I have to wear make-up, do my hair and colour my nails in a certain way. I had to adapt and familiarize myself with dressing up in the right way. I think the rules are acceptable, but should be changed over time. The rules are necessary to regulate the large number of employees, because one employee might have extraordinary ideas on how to dress. However, the rules are too detailed I think; for example, the nail colour. Supervisors should understand that no one wants to be ugly; we love to be beautiful women, and we normally don’t act against the rules.²⁶

Senior flight attendants agree to follow the regulations and many feel that it is pointless to go against them. For them, they choose to control their own emotions rather than fight with their managers. As the senior flight attendant Mod explained:

The rules are too much. We cannot wear bracelets or rings that are too flashy. Modern hairstyles are not allowed, as they stand out too much. The rules should be flexible and vary from personality to personality and the individual situation. For me, it is a very trivial matter. I don’t want to create problems. I just control my feelings and follow the rules. It is pointless to fight with them. If I want to wear any other things, I just do it outside the workplace. I can wear any kind of dress because of my beauty.²⁷

In this context, I also aim to compare the perceptions of the senior flight attendants with those of the junior staff. Since they have different experiences and backgrounds, it is possible they will perceive the rules in different ways. Pailin, a junior flight attendant, revealed the following:

The rules are too strict; they should be flexible. I felt uncomfortable wearing the make-up on my face and having to do my hair at the beginning. The hairstyles are also too diverse, and I don’t know what style to use. Later, I realized that it is a job which involves wearing make-up and red lipstick since the supervisor likes the red one. Appearance is very important for the evaluation process. Moreover, I cannot wear shorts, sandals, or jeans when I am at the line station.²⁸ I have to dress properly, not only at work, but also in public when I represent the company.²⁹

However, there are cases in which female flight attendants choose not to follow these regulations. For example, they might not colour their nails, or perhaps wear a glittery barrette in their hair while working. One attendant even had a tongue piercing, and another got a tattoo on her shoulder. Most of these transgressions, if found, will result in warnings by supervisors and inflight managers. In general, flight attendants would prefer to avoid problems and therefore will submit to the rigid rules regarding appearance.

Even though the company rules and regulations have shaped the female flight attendants’ bodies, many of the attendants report feeling confident and attractive in their uniforms; to them the uniforms can convey professionalism. This attitude was expressed to me by Chompoo, who noted:

I feel calm and well-behaved in the uniform; my personality totally changes and I display a different character to the one I normally have. My clothes, my face, and my hair need to be neat and tidy to represent the company’s image.³⁰

Here I have presented respondents’ narratives, and tried to compare the views of the junior and senior flight attendants. Interestingly, junior flight attendants, who are from the younger generation and are confident, agree to follow the strict rules with little resistance. In the end though, both the senior and junior flight attendants agree to submit to the rigid rules. They generally perceive that without such discipline they would look ugly; their goal is to present themselves as beautiful and slender women.

Crafting Thainess in the air

As discussed earlier, female flight attendants represent an image of Thai women globally. They work as cultural ambassadors who communicate and exchange Thai culture with passengers around the world. The attendants exhibit the Thai gesture of the “wai” greeting, the “Siamese smile,” and other modes of Thai gender comportment that represent Thainess through bodily practices. Female flight attendants feel confident when they wear the uniform; many are proud to be presenting the airline’s image. The Thai-inspired uniform can draw favourable impressions from passengers, as well as identify the wearer as one of the airline’s staff. Some respondents noted the opportunity to wear the elegant and beautiful Thai dress as a motivating factor for becoming a member of the cabin crew.

Manee loves to wear Thai dress because of its beauty. She says:

Passengers admire me when I wear the Thai dress. I have seen this symbol of the airline since I was young.³¹ The Thai costume represents the national airline as well as the Thai nation. I have to be good looking, behave, and show elegant character in uniform, or even out of uniform. I should not do anything bad; the display of manner depends on place and time.

The tailor-made Thai costume crafts female flight attendants into elegant and beautiful women, but it is form-fitting and often not suitable for working conditions, especially in situations when flight attendants have to work quickly to serve many passengers during short flights. Pailin comments on some of her experiences with the uniform:

The Thai dress is beautiful, but it is not practical in case of emergency. The long skirt is too narrow. When I serve food, my sa-bai (sash) sometimes drops onto the food tray. The Thai dress should be modified for more flexible use. But, passengers admire that it is beautiful and elegant. It is the image of the national airline…we are representatives of the Thai nation.

Most flight attendants are proud to represent the Thai nation, and employ nationalist ideology to construct their subjectivity. Before joining the study, Nam was a Bangkok-based flight attendant with the US carrier United Airlines. In regard to the differences between the carriers, she said:

When I worked with United Airlines, the aircraft was not my home. I could not fight for my rights, since there was no union for the Thai crew. I felt like a servant who could not say anything, but had to be submissive to the passengers. The big bosses were all Westerners and they did not protect us [the Thai crew].³² We were discriminated against since we were from an Asian country. When I work with the national flag airline, the aircraft is considered as our land or territory, so I work at home; I represent the Thai nation and am a host who displays Thai mannerisms. My bosses and colleagues are all Thais, so we like to help each other.³³

In such circumstances, Thainess not only shapes female flight attendants’ bodies, but also creates a form of affect that circulates among the flight attendants. This affect binds flight attendants into a community, one which blends a patriotic spirit with its work ethos. Note the stark contrast in Nam’s characterization between working for an international airline and for a Thai one: in the former, many of her colleagues in the Bangkok base were Thai, but corporate management was in the US; in the latter, most of her colleagues are Thai, management is Thai, and Thai cultural values are part of management strategy. Sofia made a crucial point in relation to Thainess and working for a Thai airline:

I’m a flight attendant at my country’s national airline. My performance represents the Thai people and I fly with Thai aircraft, which also signify the Thai nation. I want to present how nice Thai people are to passengers. I will not give poor service even though I am so tired. This is the reputation of Thai people. When I wear the Thai uniform, it has a “winyann” or spirituality that enables me to present it beautifully. Queen Sirikit³⁴ designed Thai costume for us and silk is a symbol of Thainess. The Thai silk costume reflects Thai grace and elegance; we are the hosts and not the servants. Passengers can differentiate between the Thai uniform and other Asian airlines’ attire. I proudly present my “khwam-pen thai”³⁵ [Thainess], as we have a great history. In the past, we had a great King who united the Thais, and he managed to survive and negotiate with European countries. We have never been colonized by Westerners.³⁶

Sofia has shown her sense of responsibility and dedication for this job. However, she does not mention her attitude when she experiences unruly passengers or womanizing superiors. Clearly, she chooses to emphasize the positive aspects of this work when discussing it in relation to the nation.

From these interviews, I believe that Thai flight attendants are generally proud of being Thai³⁷ and of being representatives of the Thai nation, from their appearance to their comportment. They often think about the reputation of the Thai nation. Flight attendants have to be more considerate in their behaviour when they are in uniform. However, they also are cautious even when they do not dress in uniform, such as during a layover at a line station, particularly in Western countries. Here, corporate mandate, together with ideologies of khwam-pen thai, have disciplined and shaped flight attendants’ bodies. At the same time, many flight attendants also have patriotic ideas regarding the uniqueness and persistence of the Thai nation, and connect these ideas to the symbolic performance of their work.

The articulation of khwam-pen thai has not only created subjectivity, but has also helped form a collective feeling. This form of affect serves to unite flight attendants, especially when they are among foreigners. “Thainess” works as the essence of a collective. National ideology is consolidated through the affect that circulates between flight attendants’ bodies.

Behind the scenes of a beautiful body

I have discussed that various disciplines have been developed which work on female flight attendants’ bodies. Nevertheless, the external power of the rules and regulation cannot totally control their appearance, health, and attitudes. There are other forms of discipline that exercise power within people’s bodies, moulding the individuals and also controlling their behaviour. These “societies of control” operate through challenges, contests, and motivational forces.³⁸

Flight attendants maintain their health and slim bodies through exercise, which they often undertake at fitness centres. They control their diets, take various drugs or herbs to lose weight, and some of them even undergo cosmetic surgery. The study airline monitors flight attendants’ bodies using the BMI measurement, which calculates the ratio between height and weight. The airline also employs spatial movement strategies to control their cabin crews, and the crews’ incomes depend on their submission to these systems of control. The airline will punish flight attendants deemed to be overweight by assigning them to work on only domestic and regional flights, which have a lower pay grade than intercontinental flights. In more severe cases, “overweight” flight attendants are suspended from duty altogether. Thus, it is in flight attendants’ economic interests to maintain a body which conforms to the corporate image.

Female flight attendants employ various techniques to maintain strong and beautiful bodies. They engage in body treatments, cosmetic surgery, diets, and exercise. After having a child, Chompoo engaged in carboxy-therapy in order to destroy the fatty deposits on her belly which had formed during pregnancy. As she told me:

The treatment lasted a week and was much more painful than giving birth. It was costly but worth it, because I could immediately wear the uniform and got back to work. There is also another treatment that claims to reduce your weight by 20 kilos in a month. However, it is extremely expensive. Some flight attendants are willing to pay this kind of fee though. Beauty is a big issue for us; now we can order beauty treatments and cosmetics from a website organized by the cabin crews. The treatments cover the whole body. For example: hair treatment, face creams, refreshing formula creams, v-shape creams, Botox, slimming patches for removing fat from belly, weight loss pills, and herbs for detoxification.³⁹

Besides body treatments, female flight attendants devote a great deal of time to exercise. Mod told me she keeps in shape by going to yoga classes, eating healthily, and taking vitamins. She said:

I like fruit and vegetables and spend a lot of time exercising. During the yoga class, I cannot eat anything, so it extends my diets. I love yoga, otherwise I would have more free time to eat. I’ve never taken drugs or undergone surgery to lose weight, but I underwent eyelid surgery to reduce the lines around my eyes. It only took an hour and there was no pain at all.⁴⁰

Female flight attendants have their own tricks to keep their bodies in shape. One attendant, Manee, challenges herself by participating in triathlon competitions in order to strengthen her body. She also eats healthy food and takes vitamins. She described her bodily practices:

I eat good and fresh food, and try to avoid frozen food because it may cause cancer. I drink lots of water and get plenty of sleep. I participate in triathlon competitions, not only to exercise, but also to strengthen my body. I have to take care of my figure; this job does not allow us to become obese. I have to choose good food and a way of life that enhances my health. I tried white bean extract and “Garcinia”⁴¹ to lose weight, but I was not happy with these, so instead I control my bodyweight through dieting and exercise.⁴²

In reality, many flight attendants find their job to be arduous, even though it is usually only portrayed as glamorous. Flight attendants’ bodies deteriorate due to the working conditions they endure. After flying for many years, female flight attendants frequently have health problems. Many suffer from recurring back pain as a result of years pushing heavy service trolleys and stowing passengers’ baggage. Some get bouts of influenza and tuberculosis; others contact bladder infections. In more serious cases, female flight attendants get breast, uterus, and colon cancer. One senior flight attendant aimed to work until legal retirement age (60), only to pass away from colon cancer at the age of 59.

Sairung suffers from health problems caused by constant jet lag and hard work. She practices yoga, tai chi kung, and general fitness routines to combat this, plus takes vitamins, has body massages, and visits a spa. Sairung told me about her health experiences:

It is necessary to exercise for this job, because it helps stretch the muscles; otherwise they are tense and painful. I also take vitamin C, calcium, and fish oil. Health is very important for this job, since we have to be strong. Sometimes I have to work by myself; my friends cannot assist me all the time. I was sick for three years, and it was related to my work and the long haul flights I was doing. They caused jet lag, muscle tension, and ligament problems. My body has recovered due to yoga and tai chi kung. I also engage in alternative medicine, such as acupuncture treatment.⁴³

For intercontinental routes, the airline needs flight attendants to be healthy, as they must be able to cope with the fatigue and long working hours. Flight attendants realize that their health is very important, as the job is very demanding on their bodies. Therefore, they not only keep their bodies in shape, but also attempt to strengthen their bodies by exercising, or in one case even engaging in triathlon competitions. However, they cannot overcome nature, and still have to deal with time zone changes. When they fly across different time zones, e.g. to the United States or Europe, they often feel the need to take sleeping pills in order to get any rest in the different time zone. One of my friends admitted to me that she could not sleep without sleeping pills, having been flying for many years.

Because female flight attendants are so concerned with their health, they engage in many healthy bodily practices. Undertaking a detoxification course is one such bodily practice that is very popular among flight attendants. One respondent persuaded me to join a liver detoxification course in Kanchanaburi, and I suffered the entire four days of the course, as it involved a very difficult process. We were not allowed to eat anything except apple juice, herbs, and rice soup all day, and my respondent was sick during the course. In addition, we had to cleanse our colons with herb water twice a day and drink a bottle of olive oil on the last night. The process was very difficult, but we had to be patient. Ying talked about this detoxification course:

(The course) is a trend among flight attendants, especially among the middle aged ones. They are more concerned about their health, and believe that this course will help prevent cancer. For me, I want to know what diet is good for my health, and I think that detoxification will enhance my body’s health. My father had cancer and I may use the knowledge gained here to treat him. After the course, I feel more relaxed, comfortable, and lose weight. I avoid drinking coffee and eating unhealthy food. I go to bed early and try to get plenty of rest.⁴⁴

This section shows the forms of self-regulation that female flight attendants increasingly accept to discipline their bodies. Their collective identities are determined by the culture that they produce and reproduce through various forms of bodily practices. This cultural value is transmitted from junior to senior attendants. Female flight attendants learn to craft their bodies and their selves; they learn how to be members of their society. Here the crafting of professional selves is less concerned with transmission of job knowledge and techniques of services than the social values and attitudes within the airline society. The attendants learn how to survive in the social environment in order to become effective and knowledgeable members of that society.

Contesting the BMI policy

As mentioned above, female flight attendants’ bodies are shaped and regulated by company rules, and are also governed by their own desire to take care of themselves. However, there are some flight attendants who cannot maintain their body shape according to company rules. This happens due to health problems, age, or for personal reasons. Such undesirable bodies are not accepted by the company, as within such a competitive market, airline management feel the need to maintain their image through representations of beautiful and slim female flight attendants.

The study airline released an order on 11 May 2010 stating that flight attendants’ bodies would be judged based on the BMI. The airline noted that it had to maintain its competitive edge, and that therefore the level of service and the personalities of the flight attendants needed improving. Flight attendants were told to maintain healthy bodies and nice figures, as well as working efficacy, in order to perform both emergency and service duties. The aim was to impress passengers and enhance the company’s image. As a result, those who exceeded the BMI standard set would be required to lose the appropriate amount of weight within six months. If they could not meet this standard, they were assigned to fly on domestic and shorter regional routes only, thus significantly diminishing their monthly income, as crews are paid according to flight hours. Flight attendants who fly domestic and regional flights also receive less allowance than those who fly intercontinental flights. Furthermore, flight attendants could be grounded, having to work in the office, if they could not meet the BMI standard within one year. In February 2011, 41 flight attendants, most of whom were over 40 years old, were told to fly on domestic and turn-around regional routes only.⁴⁵

Almost a year later, on 7 March 2011, 22 flight attendants, as plaintiffs, filed a lawsuit at the Central Labour Court against the study airline, its president, and its executive director. The attendants asked the court to investigate the order announcing the use of the BMI. This order states that female flight attendants must have a BMI of less than 25, while males should have a BMI of less than 27.5. Flight attendants who exceed the BMI criteria are required to consult doctors or specialized health care institutions. This rule was accused of lowering job security, and of going against basic human rights.

One news source at the time said:

Twenty-two out of 70 people who have exceeded the BMI have attempted to follow the company rules, and do not intend to act against the policy or destroy the company’s reputation. However, they still disagree with the order, as it violates human rights and has a negative impact on mental health. The flight attendants have filed their complaint with the National Human Rights Commission and the Labour Court. They say they have the right to choose not to take the medicines or supplements offered by the health care institutions. However, they are not concerned about their income which has been reduced, but are calling for the revocation of this unfair order which goes against their employment conditions.⁴⁶

Eventually, this group of flight attendants failed to change the airline’s policy. Manee gave me an interesting description of this case:

It was impossible to win this case, since we have to sign a work contract, which highlights the special regulation. This rule is different from other companies; so our bodies can be controlled in terms of size. It is different from other airlines. We often see flight attendants from Western airlines and some of them are obese. In fact, they [the overweight flight attendants] should not raise the issue of income levels to fight with the company. However, I don’t think it is difficult to lose weight; it depends on being able to focus on diet and exercise.⁴⁷

Sairung has health problems and this makes it difficult for her to keep her body shape. She takes hormonal supplements to control her bodyweight, and insists that airlines should consider a person’s personality rather than their body shape. She comments on the BMI policy:

I disagree with the BMI regulation; weight should not be an important issue, as long as you stay clean, tidy, and have the right personality. This job is mostly concerned with serving food, so one should be clean because it reflects on the food being served. If they look dirty, the food handling process will be questioned in terms of hygiene. Though I understand we have to think about the image of the airline, you can be fat and still actively perform the required duties, so it should be OK. Furthermore, you can be older but still work effectively; this should be accepted too. I gained 7 kg because I ate a lot to compensate for my lack of sleep on European routes. In addition, having to take hormones for my endometriosis treatment had an effect on my body. I used to take drugs to lose weight, but those affected my heart, so I stopped and instead tried to diet and exercise.⁴⁸

As mentioned before, the study airline not only regulates flight attendants’ bodies, but also exploits its labour power. Following the global financial crisis of 2008 onwards, for instance, the company administrators regularly employed a minimum crew policy to reduce expenditure. Two flight attendants were removed from each flight, and the number of days crews spent on layovers was also reduced.⁴⁹ As a result, in-flight service procedures have been modified due to the lower numbers of crew. Cabin crew have to work harder to fulfill passenger demands, and in-flight managers have not reviewed the service procedures. Moreover, flight attendants have less time to rest, making it more difficult for their bodies to recover from jet lag following overseas trips. Sometimes, they have only 24 hours for their stopover and cannot sleep because of the time difference. Flight attendants’ bodies are being exploited as a result of these working conditions having been introduced.

In such circumstances, capitalist business owners enjoy full rights over the flight attendants’ labour but, as people, attendants have rights over their own bodies. Capitalists, however, should have no formal right to put the body of a person at risk. Each person wishes to be treated with respect and consideration, as a whole living being.⁵⁰ In this regard, the Airline Union has been working over the years to protect attendants’ labour rights and working conditions, and has negotiated their incomes. The union has tried to protect the human rights of the airline’s employees and often mobilizes political movements to contest and negotiate with the administrators. As a result, some unfair policies and regulations have been abolished or adjusted. However, there are also political aspects to the union movement, meaning that sometimes it does not back the flight attendants, particularly over issues related to sexual harassment, flight time limits, and flight schedules.

Female flight attendants normally display their beauty in response to the expectations of the company, but some of them are not able to maintain slim bodies, and gain weight due to health problems. Therefore, the airline forces them to improve their appearance in order to conserve its image. According to Wolf,⁵¹ beauty is not a universal and natural category, but rather a form of cultural “currency” used by male institutions to limit and control women’s access to power. Beauty has emerged in opposition to women’s capacities, in order to justify and maintain women’s secondary status in the workplace. Being slim is central to the normative construction of femininity, while being fat is not an issue of self-control but instead represents an attempt to resist gender stereotypes. Fat is not a sign of women’s victimization by the image of a body beautiful, but rather a symbol of rebellion against the dominant images of ideal womanhood.⁵² In this sense, female flight attendants’ bodies are regulated under a patriarchal discourse that is reinforced by Thai politicians and military officers; the image of beauty limits their ability to realize their own image. As a result, excessive weight can also signify a revolt against sexual objectification, as imposed on female flight attendants’ bodies.

Conclusion

Flight attendants’ bodies are disciplined and shaped by organizational rules and regulations. New recruits’ personalities are both regulated and socialized at the company’s training school. They are taught how to make themselves more attractive and charming according to the company’s standards in order to become perfect hostesses and represent the image of the airline. The women discipline their bodies not only to make them productive and profitable for the company, but also to achieve their own productive ends.

Flight attendants display their beauty, slender shape, and youthfulness in response to passenger and company expectations. They keep their bodies in shape through dietary care and exercise. The company saves money on providing health services, as the employees maintain strong bodies and the capability to work hard. It is not necessary for the company to help maintain the employees’ appearance, as the flight attendants themselves invest in cosmetics, ornaments, and brand-name clothes and goods in order to look more attractive and socially acceptable. In this way they nurture a certain lifestyle and preserve the image of the company.

I have illustrated in this article, however, that female flight attendants are not always passive victims of capitalist discipline, but rather sometimes actively negotiate and contest these processes using their bodies. The contesting of the study airline’s BMI policy clearly shows that female flight attendants do attempt to negotiate and relocate the multiple powers mapped onto their bodies. As a result, female flight attendants’ bodies become spaces in which ‘body politics’ is performed.

The flight attendants portrayed here exhibit Thai manners while wearing traditional Thai costume, in order to satisfy the passengers. They are often proud to represent their nation symbolically, and this crafted representation of Thainess helps them construct the required subjectivity. The nation state’s ideology penetrates deeply into the lives of individual subjects through discipline and socialization. It is through these disciplined bodies that the Thai corporate strategy presents the beauty and elegance of Thai culture to the world.

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my gratitude to Dr Jane M Ferguson for her useful comments. I appreciate the constructive comments of anonymous reviewers that greatly helped to improve an earlier version of this article. I am also indebted to Plagat for kindly proofreading the article.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.