… which Macmillan Dictionary elaborates upon here; UD proposes that we extend this rich, alliterative phrase’s provenance to the actual air. That is, she suggests that we begin to designate the many ultraorthodox men who refuse to sit next to women on commercial aircraft flying fucks (details here), and that we get the word out as broadly as possible that under no circumstances should you ever give in to flying fucks who think qua woman you stink. Do not change your seat.
Consider a recent case:
[A] flight attendant approached [a woman flying from Israel to New York] and asked her to change her seat.
As the previous Director of IRAC and current Executive Director of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), there is no one more prepared for such a situation than [Rabbi Noa Sattath], and yet it was a difficult and embarrassing experience for her all the same. She turned to the flight attendant and asked her, point-blank: “Are you asking me to move because of my gender?”
When the flight attendant said yes, Noa responded that the request was both offensive and against the law. The flight attendant apologized, then pointed to the man assigned the seat beside Noa and said that he could not sit next to her. The flight attendant left, and other passengers started discussing the situation. A few minutes later the flight attendant returned, apologized, and once again asked Noa to move. Noa knew her rights, and responded: “No. The request is against the law. Don’t ask again”.
At that point, 40 minutes before takeoff, Noa found herself surrounded by passengers trying to convince her to give up her seat, saying things to her like: “You know, it’s nothing against you personally;” and trying to explain halacha, Jewish law. It doesn’t matter how strong you are, or how prepared you think you are for this kind of scenario: it is upsetting and humiliating, and a lot of pressure can be placed on women to be silent and acquiesce to this discrimination.
The flight attendant must have found another solution, since the man did not end up sitting next to Noa.
One doesn’t expect primitifs to be reasonable; the obscene part of the story lies entirely with the other passengers, who in this disgracefully common situation often behave like this. They often gang up on the woman and say inane things that further humiliate her and they tell her she has to move. They try to make her believe she is the fuck in this situation, whereas the fuck is, with crystal clarity, the appalling woman-reviler.
The flying fucks are out there and they don’t care that what they’re doing is against the law. They are ineducable; your job is not to educate them. Your job is to sit tight and sue the airlines.
*****************