Spain: Ryanair
Charity Calendar Riles Women's Group
Images of
Bikini-Wearing Air Hostesses Are Sexist, Spain's Women's Institute Says
Ryanair
cabin crew calendar girls hold the 2008 Ryanair charity calendar in London last
month. 15 November 2007. Europe's largest low-cost airline unveiled the
charity calendar with their own cabin crew staff stripping down to their bare
essentials. Proceeds from the calendar will go toward children with special
needs.
December 12, 2007
MADRID, Spain - Spain's government-run
Women's Institute has labeled a 2008 calendar for low-cost airline Ryanair
featuring bikini-wearing air hostesses as sexist and said it would be sending
letters of complaint to Irish and EU authorities.
The Institute, which defends women's
rights, said that while the fact that the proceeds from calendar sales would go
to charity was positive, the photographs "represent the stewardesses as
sexual objects" and "reinforce discriminatory stereotypes."
"It is significant that that
only women are used, in a sector in which there is a considerable percentage of
men," the institute, which is part of the Labor and Social Affairs
Ministry, said in a statement.
The calendars show the hostesses —
one for each month — posing in bikinis on or outside airplanes. They are sold
on Ryanair flights and on the Internet for 7 euros ($10.27). Proceeds go to the
Irish disabled children's charity Angels Quest.
"We're not talking about morals
or nudity here, it's simply how women are portrayed," institute
spokeswoman Maria Jesus Ortiz said. "If there had been men in the
calendar, I'm sure there would have been no controversy."
The Spanish union of consumers FACUA
raised the issue Tuesday.
Ortiz said the institute would send
a letter of complaint to the Irish Embassy in Spain and to the European Union's
gender equality group. Ortiz added that the institute was seeking legal advice
on what further action it might be able to take.
Ryanair had defended the calendar,
saying the hostesses had posed voluntarily and that it was for a good cause.