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British Airways’ male crew members to be allowed piercings and makeup

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2022 2:26 pm
by gender free universe
The Guardian reports:

British Airways’ male crew members to be allowed piercings and makeup. Airline follows Virgin Atlantic in updating its policies with non-gender-specific rules.

British Airways’ male pilots and cabin crew are to be allowed to have piercings and wear makeup for the first time, after the airline updated its guidelines with non-gender-specific rules.

All employees in uniform can wear mascara, false eyelashes and earrings from Monday, as well as carry accessories including handbags, an internal memo told staff.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... eup-gender

Re: British Airways’ male crew members to be allowed piercings and makeup

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2022 3:30 pm
by Coder
Question here: when did flight crew start carrying handbags? Or do airlines control their every move from the gate to the plane?

Re: British Airways’ male crew members to be allowed piercings and makeup

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2022 3:46 pm
by crfriend
Coder wrote: Mon Nov 14, 2022 3:30 pmQuestion here: when did flight crew start carrying handbags? Or do airlines control their every move from the gate to the plane?
I've never seen cabin crew carrying bags when working. Pilots, on the other hand, carry bags with things like charts and paperwork in them, although that function is being replaced by tablet computers.

Re: British Airways’ male crew members to be allowed piercings and makeup

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2022 12:42 am
by ScotL
Coder wrote: Mon Nov 14, 2022 3:30 pm Question here: when did flight crew start carrying handbags? Or do airlines control their every move from the gate to the plane?
By handbag, do you think they mean purse?

Re: British Airways’ male crew members to be allowed piercings and makeup

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2022 3:05 am
by Coder
ScotL wrote: Tue Nov 15, 2022 12:42 am
Coder wrote: Mon Nov 14, 2022 3:30 pm Question here: when did flight crew start carrying handbags? Or do airlines control their every move from the gate to the plane?
By handbag, do you think they mean purse?
Yes - was just quoting the original post here - but I’m guessing they mean purses. It just seems unsafe/unnecessary for a flight attendant to be carrying a bag while they do their job - right?

Re: British Airways’ male crew members to be allowed piercings and makeup

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2022 4:56 am
by ScotL
Coder wrote: Tue Nov 15, 2022 3:05 am
ScotL wrote: Tue Nov 15, 2022 12:42 am
Coder wrote: Mon Nov 14, 2022 3:30 pm Question here: when did flight crew start carrying handbags? Or do airlines control their every move from the gate to the plane?
By handbag, do you think they mean purse?
Yes - was just quoting the original post here - but I’m guessing they mean purses. It just seems unsafe/unnecessary for a flight attendant to be carrying a bag while they do their job - right?
I fly frequently and haven’t seen any carry their purse while working. But walking to and from the gate and onto the plane, they have them. Think that’s what they mean but who knows.

It’s an odd thing either way. Guys carry bags now anyhow. And always have. If it has a strap you wear over a shoulder it’s a murse. Unless it’s a messenger bag or carries a laptop. Then it’s ok, not a murse… Tongue firmly placed in cheek.

Re: British Airways’ male crew members to be allowed piercings and makeup

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2022 10:09 am
by geron
ScotL wrote: Tue Nov 15, 2022 12:42 am By handbag, do you think they mean purse?
In British English, a purse is the pouch in which a woman (it's usually a woman, anyway) keeps her coins. Her handbag is what she carries her purse and other daily essentials in. However, my wife carries a handbag only for formal occasions such as weddings. Come to think of it, coins and banknotes are fast becoming obsolete too. And I can't remember when I last wrote a cheque.

Re: British Airways’ male crew members to be allowed piercings and makeup

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2022 11:54 am
by ScotL
geron wrote: Tue Nov 15, 2022 10:09 am
ScotL wrote: Tue Nov 15, 2022 12:42 am By handbag, do you think they mean purse?
In British English, a purse is the pouch in which a woman (it's usually a woman, anyway) keeps her coins. Her handbag is what she carries her purse and other daily essentials in. However, my wife carries a handbag only for formal occasions such as weddings. Come to think of it, coins and banknotes are fast becoming obsolete too. And I can't remember when I last wrote a cheque.
Same thing in American English. There’s a woman’s purse and a coin purse. The expression “loosening the purse strings” means stop being frugal.

Re: British Airways’ male crew members to be allowed piercings and makeup

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2022 1:16 pm
by crfriend
ScotL wrote: Tue Nov 15, 2022 4:56 amIt’s an odd thing either way. Guys carry bags now anyhow. And always have. If it has a strap you wear over a shoulder it’s a murse. Unless it’s a messenger bag or carries a laptop. Then it’s ok, not a murse… Tongue firmly placed in cheek.
"Murse"... What an idiotic term.

I recall taking my laptop computer down to my local one night to check the network there and getting my chops busted about carrying a "murse". I pointed out that that was my laptop bag as attempt to clear the air. Challenged again, I reiterated that, "No, that's my laptop bag. This is my purse", and plopped my clutch on the bar because I have to carry it most of the time now because my new mobile is too big for my waistcoat pockets.

There's a lot of good-natured give-and-take there which is one of the reasons I like the place; it helps keep me on my game.

Re: British Airways’ male crew members to be allowed piercings and makeup

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2022 2:17 am
by ScotL
crfriend wrote: Tue Nov 15, 2022 1:16 pm
ScotL wrote: Tue Nov 15, 2022 4:56 amIt’s an odd thing either way. Guys carry bags now anyhow. And always have. If it has a strap you wear over a shoulder it’s a murse. Unless it’s a messenger bag or carries a laptop. Then it’s ok, not a murse… Tongue firmly placed in cheek.
"Murse"... What an idiotic term.

I recall taking my laptop computer down to my local one night to check the network there and getting my chops busted about carrying a "murse". I pointed out that that was my laptop bag as attempt to clear the air. Challenged again, I reiterated that, "No, that's my laptop bag. This is my purse", and plopped my clutch on the bar because I have to carry it most of the time now because my new mobile is too big for my waistcoat pockets.

There's a lot of good-natured give-and-take there which is one of the reasons I like the place; it helps keep me on my game.
Agreed. Semantics. Society can allow words to mean everything when it’s simple semantics that means nothing.

“You wearing a skirt?”

“No, it’s a kilt”

“oh, that’s ok then…”

Re: British Airways’ male crew members to be allowed piercings and makeup

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2022 1:33 am
by phathack
crfriend wrote: Tue Nov 15, 2022 1:16 pm I recall taking my laptop computer down to my local one night to check the network there and getting my chops busted about carrying a "murse". I pointed out that that was my laptop bag as attempt to clear the air. Challenged again, I reiterated that, "No, that's my laptop bag. This is my purse", and plopped my clutch on the bar because I have to carry it most of the time now because my new mobile is too big for my waistcoat pockets.

There's a lot of good-natured give-and-take there which is one of the reasons I like the place; it helps keep me on my game.
I carry a purse, it has my mobile phone, wallet, car keys and other essential stuff because most of my skirts don't have pockets and if they do they look strange stuffed with all the stuff I carry every day.

Re: British Airways’ male crew members to be allowed piercings and makeup

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2022 1:46 am
by moonshadow
I carry a purse/pocket book/hand bag/ whatever...

I don't care what it's called, it's got stars and moons and it's nature green. I keep my wallet, change, cellphone, and hair brush with a small supply of hair bands.

It also has a face mask I haven't worn in over a year (probably should be washed), lots of store receipts, crumpled up shopping list, pens with missing caps, a pair of finger nail clippers, a Leatherman utility knife....you know the usual stuff I reckon a lady would carry...

*shrugs*

It's my bag.

Re: British Airways’ male crew members to be allowed piercings and makeup

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2022 11:57 am
by Coder
FWIW, I’m not objecting to the policy - I’m just curious if flight attendants - during flight - routinely carry handbags/purses. It just seems dangerous - bags can swing and hit people in such tight quarters. If they aren’t carrying them, it seems awful that the airlines regulate something that the passengers never see. Also, it seems, if the attendant needs something from their purse… they would just walk to the crew quarters and get their items from back there - again away from customers eyes, with no real reason to regulate…

Re: British Airways’ male crew members to be allowed piercings and makeup

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2022 12:19 pm
by ScotL
Coder wrote: Thu Nov 17, 2022 11:57 am FWIW, I’m not objecting to the policy - I’m just curious if flight attendants - during flight - routinely carry handbags/purses. It just seems dangerous - bags can swing and hit people in such tight quarters. If they aren’t carrying them, it seems awful that the airlines regulate something that the passengers never see. Also, it seems, if the attendant needs something from their purse… they would just walk to the crew quarters and get their items from back there - again away from customers eyes, with no real reason to regulate…
I fly a lot and I’ve never seen them carry the purse while working the plane. Just to and from. Remember the golden age of flying where seats were large and they brought the roast to you and carved you which part you wanted. Probably a holdover from that era to make sure everything is “proper.”

Re: British Airways’ male crew members to be allowed piercings and makeup

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2022 1:25 pm
by moonshadow
Coder wrote: Thu Nov 17, 2022 11:57 am FWIW, I’m not objecting to the policy - I’m just curious if flight attendants - during flight - routinely carry handbags/purses. It just seems dangerous - bags can swing and hit people in such tight quarters. If they aren’t carrying them, it seems awful that the airlines regulate something that the passengers never see. Also, it seems, if the attendant needs something from their purse… they would just walk to the crew quarters and get their items from back there - again away from customers eyes, with no real reason to regulate…
You know it's funny you should mention that....

I got tired of transferring my stuff from my purse to my pockets every time I go to work vs home, so I just started putting my purse in my service van, and if I need my wallet for something I just put it in my pocket as needed. (I don't actually carry the purse on my shoulder during company time... it just stays in the van out if sight and out of mind.)

It's a great way to keep personal items at the ready during the day.