ABSTRACT
When Americans traveled abroad, they flew in planes
staffed by women attendants called stewardesses. The air-
lines stressed conformity among them-they had to be
young, white, and good-looking-a combination of sex-
ual attractiveness and middle-
class wholesomeness. Those who
reached the ripe old age of 30
were dismissed, as were those
who became overweight or preg-
nant. And travelers increasingly
stayed at the Hilton Inn, a chain
that promised that each of its
hotels was a “little America.”
