A Woman Asked To Cover Up On A Flight Or She Gets De-boarded. Wtf Is Happening?

A Woman Asked To Cover Up On A Flight Or She Gets De-boarded. Wtf Is Happening?

They say, the world is transitioning into a better place. A place that is more aware, more sensitive and that is more accepting of change. And we say, what bullshit! Not that we are condemning the visible efforts being made to squash stereotypes and patriarchy, but we are annoyed by the the fact that none of it is actually bearing fruit. More so, after the recent untoward incident that took place with a doctor who was taking an American Airlines flight and was given an ultimatum to cover up or end up not flying at all.

Tisha Rowe, a physician was travelling from Jamaica to Miami with her son, when American Airlines decided to make a mountain out of a mole hill, and in this case, out of a perfectly fine romper. Jamaica at this time of the year, is as hot as this topic is on the internet, and as a natural instinct, people chose to dress in light and breezy clothes, as did Tisha Rowe. But unfortunately, she was called out on wearing ‘inappropriate’ clothes, and given an ultimatum to either cover up or de-board the plane. Because a woman travelling while in a romper, is THAT critical to an airline.

It is 2019, but people still want to dictate the concept of appropriate clothing for women. You see, us women think that we are entitled to making our own choices and wearing what we feel comfortable in. Of course, we understand the one-off times when you’re meant to adhere to a certain and pre-disclosed dress code, but while taking a flight? Since when did flights start coming with a styling manual? Are we missing out on something or did the cabin crew miss talking about the emergency pieces of clothing a woman needs to carry so as to not be kicked out?

Tisha and several other on the internet did not take this well, she put this up on the internet for them to judge.  She wrote, “Here is what I was wearing when American Airlines asked me to deplane for a talk. At which point I was asked to ‘cover up’. When defending my outfit I was threatened with not getting back on the flight unless I walked down the aisle wrapped in a blanket. #notsofriendlyskies.”

https://twitter.com/drwendiwilliams/status/1145716000370724866?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1145716000370724866%7Ctwgr%5E393039363b636f6e74726f6c&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Findianexpress.com%2Farticle%2Ftrending%2Ftrending-globally%2Famerican-airlines-apologises-after-facing-backlash-for-asking-woman-passenger-to-cover-up-5823634%2F

https://twitter.com/MariaMaria6666/status/1145736445145026561?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1145736445145026561%7Ctwgr%5E393039363b636f6e74726f6c&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatoday.in%2Ftrending-news%2Fstory%2Fcover-up-or-no-flying-american-airlines-tells-woman-doctor-on-flight-internet-blasts-airline-1565877-2019-07-10

https://twitter.com/meerkatrodeo/status/1145725378801078272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1145725378801078272%7Ctwgr%5E393039363b636f6e74726f6c&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatoday.in%2Ftrending-news%2Fstory%2Fcover-up-or-no-flying-american-airlines-tells-woman-doctor-on-flight-internet-blasts-airline-1565877-2019-07-10

https://twitter.com/dannsdad/status/1148618102801948673?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1148618102801948673%7Ctwgr%5E393039363b636f6e74726f6c&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatoday.in%2Ftrending-news%2Fstory%2Fcover-up-or-no-flying-american-airlines-tells-woman-doctor-on-flight-internet-blasts-airline-1565877-2019-07-10

Further in an interview with The Washington Post, Tisha shared how when she finally landed at the Kingston Airport, she was literally in sweats from being in a blanket and had to rush to the washroom to cool off her rising body temperature. She also shared, how the crew addressed the matter even poorly by calling her to the side and saying things like, “You cannot get on the plane dressed like that.”

And in case that wasn’t enough, when Rowe got off the plane, she saw another woman getting down from the plane, who was wearing shorts that were even shorter than Rowe’s. To this, she said, “The difference between that woman and me is she was about a size 2, thin, It’s hard to understand if you are not a double minority, a woman and a black, how it’s not pulling a card.” And we wish we could disagree with her, to believe that the world doesn’t work on such f**ked up stereotypes but we would be so wrong. In just one fell swoop, this brought up the issues of body-shaming, sexism and all such issues that are prevalent.

Later, after the Airlines realised the can of worms it had opened, from the kind of remarks and angry tweets it was receiving, they issued an apology to the woman saying, “We were concerned about Dr Rowe’s comments, and reached out to her and our team at the Kingston airport to gather more information about what occurred. We apologize to Dr Rowe and her son for their experience, and have fully refunded their travel.” Only if that refund were enough to make up for all that humiliation, sexism and racism.

And this wasn’t the first time that this was happening either. Earlier this year, another woman also found herself in a similar situation while travelling. These are the exact type of things that force us to think how people behave believing they have a say in what a woman wears while screaming feminism and progression. We are sure, no man sitting in the plane in his three-fourths or shorts was called out to cover up and that is just plain sad.

Also Read : We Asked Indian Airlines What ‘Appropriate’ Clothing For Women Onboard Is. Cover Up! Apparently

Sadhika Sehgal

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