# The notion that male flight attendants are likely gay--whence? (Running With Scissors) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 23, 2013, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-notion-that-male-flight-attendants-are-likely-gay-whence-running-with-scissors/659172 "2013-05-23T22:38:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-notion-that-male-flight-attendants-are-likely-gay-whence-running-with-scissors/659172/21 "2013-05-25T03:52:12Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > This is probably one of those things there just isn’t any rational explanation for, but I can’t help wondering. How did this idea get started? Because relative to a normal population distribution of heterosexuals and homosexuals in occupations it’s an extremely gay profession. At a minimum at least half of the male flight attendants I have encountered were quite obviously gay. It “got started” because it’s true. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-notion-that-male-flight-attendants-are-likely-gay-whence-running-with-scissors/659172/22 "2013-05-25T04:05:40Z")
Re the 2006 movie being a “source” stand up comic Judy Tenuta was making jokes about gay make flight attendants back in the 80’s. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-notion-that-male-flight-attendants-are-likely-gay-whence-running-with-scissors/659172/23 "2013-05-25T10:24:02Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Because relative to a normal population distribution of heterosexuals and homosexuals in occupations it’s an extremely gay profession. At a minimum at least half of the male flight attendants I have encountered were quite obviously gay. It “got started” because it’s true. And it’s true because they have good reasons to pick each other (that is: the airlines and the gay flight attendants in spe have reasons to pick each other). Which got me wondering: I don’t recall ever having flown with one of those very smart Middle Eastern airlines. Do they have just women? Do they have very straight-seeming male flight attendants? Are they actually gay? It would probably be a great job for someone who is gay in such a society, because you get out to other countries and you probably get to meet other gay flight attendants. I wonder because from the KLM documentary I mentioned it seemed… almost like a implicit policy. Not something anybody said out loud, but everyone knew they were looking for gay men as flight attendants. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-notion-that-male-flight-attendants-are-likely-gay-whence-running-with-scissors/659172/24 "2013-05-26T22:38:56Z")
Turns out we did this [already](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=232945)–also before the 2006 film. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-notion-that-male-flight-attendants-are-likely-gay-whence-running-with-scissors/659172/25 "2013-05-27T05:19:59Z")
> [@gracer](#): > > - They wanted the jobs because they would fly all over the world to explore For a time, while growing up, I thought it would be a fine to have that job for a few years just for the travel opportunities generally. Of course I was about eight at the time and had no notion of how the adult world sometimes works. > [@](#): > > [Here](http://www.hollanddoc.nl/kijk-luister/documentaire/a/aids-vluchten-kon-niet-meer.html) is a link to the documentary. It’s in Dutch though, and you’ll need a Dutch IP to watch it. Sadly I’m finding a lot of this sort of thing. My access to German TV through network websites has become severely curtailed since the broadcasters were hit with the DRM hammer; basically the stations aren’t allowed to keep content up for more than a week or so. And that’s only if I’m allowed to watch the show at all; in many cases I get nothing more than a message telling me the presentation is not available in my country. On the other hand, though, I believe the quantity of content offered online is more generous than with most American broadcasters. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2013, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-notion-that-male-flight-attendants-are-likely-gay-whence-running-with-scissors/659172/26 "2013-06-08T18:37:18Z")
My gaydar isn’t especially sensitive - I’ve misread gay guys and lesbians more often than I care to admit - but I do tend to notice that of male flight attendants. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-notion-that-male-flight-attendants-are-likely-gay-whence-running-with-scissors/659172/27 "2013-06-09T00:56:25Z")
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