Soaring to new heights with a couple of Women’s History Month reads

 March is more than just the start   to spring or setting up basketball brackets; it’s also Women’s History Month, where we honor the achievements of all women everywhere.

While I don’t get into nonfiction as much as I should perhaps, an interesting book came my way recently that not only suits this theme perfectly but shows that underestimating certain groups of people is usually an unexpected advantage in the fight for equality.

The Great Stewardess Rebellion by Nell McShane Wulfhart tells the real life tales of several women during the 1960s and 70s who worked as airline stewardesses and fought to bring the power of the union to make serious changes to the industry.

One of those women was Patt Gibb, who planned to become a manager someday rather than be made to leave her job by the age of thirty five or when she got married (whichever came first). 

She wound up being elected as a union representative meant to speak up for her co-workers but soon realized that the male dominated Transport Workers Union only saw her and her colleagues as add-ons at best.

Patt decided to form The Association of Professional Flight Attendants with the aid of such folk as Tommie Hutto who was a key member of Stewardesses for Equal Rights and lawyer Sonia Pressman who encouraged her bosses at the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission to take the airlines to court for sexual discrimination.

Wulfhart narrates their stories in an instantly engaging manner, displaying the earnest energy each woman had to make this new working experience for women be a rewarding one. 

I was lucky enough to win a copy of the newly released paperback edition of this book along with a TWA travel bag and other items seen in the picture above (super heroine figures not included, just part of my personal collection!) and very thankful for that indeed. The best part of this prize pack is the chance to learn more about how stewardesses went from being seen as sky high servants to viable members of the airline community:

Since I do like historical fiction for subjects like this, I checked my TBR stacks and found something that should pair up very well with this nonfiction narrative.

Beatriz Williams’ Her Last Flight uses Amelia Earhart as the inspiration for her leading lady Irene Foster, a female pilot who trains with former war hero Sam Mallory to become an independent flier in her own right.

Nonetheless, she and Sam do gain some fame together due to being marooned during an attempt at a nonstop fight to Australia during the 1930s. Their rescue separates them emotionally before Irene’s mysterious disappearance on a solo flight appears to do so for good but is she really gone and was that vanishing act the right choice?

Williams possesses a flair for vivid fictional portraits of  women who wish to fly free from the seemingly impenetrable restrictions of their society and yet have to find their footing as carefully as possible. With a figure like Amelia Earhart as her guiding star here, this novel appears to be the ideal vehicle for her talents:

Women’s history should be more than just a one time special event (and that includes ALL women from every section of our world) . It is good to use this month as a starting off point there, if only to discover how any woman can be the superhero of her own situation and get a little help from her friends along the way: