Patricia Ireland
...e school when she was denied the privilege of being a Patrol boy. “Girls, it seemed, didn’t quite measure up” (Ireland: 1996,22). Early in her adolescence, she discovered that her tomboy image was not appropriate for a young woman. For playing with the boys was more accepted when she was younger. This began her transformation from tomboy to the stereotypically feminine woman. The late 1950’s and the early 1960’s were her rebellious teen years. This meant she became heavily involved in activity involving beer, cigarettes and sex (Ireland: 1996,23). Patricia became engrossed in student council, clubs and parties. She felt it was her schoolgirl duty to become popular. Underneath all the rebelliousness, she envisioned a conventional future for her self (Ireland: 1996,25). Patricia graduated from high school and continued to college at DePauw University and later transferred to the University of Tennessee (Ireland: 1996,26-29). She subsequently married her high school sweetheart. During her college years she took a job as a fight attendant at Pan Am (Blow: 1996). During the time she was a flight attendant she unearthed yet more discrimination for being a woman. She believed she was hired because her interviewers liked women tall and brunette (Blow: 1996). As a flight attendant, she had to uphold a certain image. There were weigh-ins, to make sure that the women were in good shape. All stewardesses had to wear red lipstick and finger nail polish. On the ground, their black heels had to measure at least three inches and white gloves were a necessity. Their hair had to be styled and cut by the company. Brassieres, slips and girdles were required at all times (Ireland: 1996,42). Working as a stewardess created a never-ending struggle to maintain some kind of identity apart from the caretaker/seductress person...